/in 


The  Glory  of  the  Ministry 


Other  Books  by 
PROF.  A.  T.  ROBERTSON 

Critical  Notes  to  Broadus's  Harmony  of 
the  Gospels. 

Life  and  Letters  of  John  A.  Broadus. 

Teaching  of  Jesus  Concerning  God  the 
Father. 

Keywords  in  the  Teaching  of  Jesus. 

Syllabus  for  New  Testament  Study. 

Students'  Chronological  New  Testament. 

Epochs  in  the  Life  of  Jesus. 

Epochs  in  the  Life  of  Paul. 

Jonn  the  Loyal.  Studies  in  the  Minis- 
try of  the  Baptist. 

A  Short  Grammar  of  the  Greek  New 
Testament. 

A  Commentary  on  the  Gospel  Accord- 
ing to  Matthew. 


The  Glory  of  the  Ministry 


Paul's  Exultation  in 
Preaching 


By 
A.  T.  ROBERTSON,  M.  A.,  D.  D. 

Professor  of  New  Testament  Interpretation 

in  The  Southern  Baptist  Theological 

Seminary,  Louisville,  Ky. 


NOV   20  1990 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming     H.     Revell     Company 

London         and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  191 1,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  123  North  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      100    Princes    Street 


To 

The  Rev.  James  Stalker,  M.  A,,  D.  D, 

Professor  in  the  United  Free 

Church   College,    Aberdeen, 

Preacher,      Teacher, 

Inspirer  of  Preachers 


Preface 

IT  is  now  a  good  many  years  since  the  beauty  of 
Paul's  apologetic  for  preaching  in  2  Corinthians 
ii.  i2-vi.  10  made  its  first  appeal  to  me.     As 
with  much  that  has  entered  my  life,  it  was  the  close 
study  of  the  Greek  text  with  a  class  in  Greek  exegesis 
that  first  gripped  my  heart  with  this   noble  pane- 
gyric on  the  ministry  of  the  servants  of  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  not  mere  rhapsody  on  Paul's  part,  but  a  mag- 
nificent exposition  of  the  preacher's  task  from  every 
point  of  view.     I  have  made  it  my  duty  and  joy  to 
present  this  lofty  spiritual  interpretation  of  the  min- 
ster's   work    to    succeeding    classes    of    theological 
students.     Last  November  in  South  Carolina  I  made 
an  address  on  "  The  Glory  of  the  Ministry  "  as  pre- 
sented by  Paul  in  this  passage.     It  brought  cheer 
and  hope  to  the  hearts  of  some  of  the  toilers  for 
Christ  to  the  extent  that  a  number  of  them  privately 
asked  me  to  write  a  little  book  on  the  subject.     I 
have  not  been  able  to  get  away  from  this  appeal. 
My  life  is  constantly  with  ministers.     I  know  much 
of  the  struggles,  ambitions,  hopes,  joys,  and  disap- 
pointments of  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  both  young 

7 


8  PREFACE 

and  old.  The  lines  have  not  fallen  in  pleasant  places 
for  all  of  them.  They  are  subject  to  much  misun- 
derstanding. Modern  and  pubUc  opinion  is  distinctly- 
critical,  if  not  at  times  harsh,  towards  the  minister. 
It  is  not  always  easy  in  an  unsympathetic  atmosphere 
to  preserve  the  right  spirit  and  to  see  things  as  they 
really  are.  I  have  written  this  book  out  of  love  for 
preachers  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus.  Some  one  may  find 
tonic  and  ozone,  as  he  comes  close  to  the  heart  of 
his  mission  and  Hfe,  in  Paul's  bracing  words.  Some, 
for  whom  the  ministry  no  longer  has  the  old  charm, 
may  recover  their  first  love.  Some,  who  have  been 
disposed  to  speak  unkindly  of  ministers  as  a  class, 
may  be  led  to  revise  their  judgment.  Some  young 
men,  who  look  out  on  the  wonderful  modern  world, 
may  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  light  in  the  face  of  Jesus, 
as  did  Paul  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  and  yield  to 
the  appeal  in  that  Face  for  a  world  lost  in  sin,  a 
world  that  calls  for  interpreters  of  Jesus.  I  pray 
that  the  Spirit  of  Christ  may  go  with  this  little  book 
and  take  it  where  it  is  needed.  The  volume  is 
not  a  mere  exposition  of  Paul's  own  glorying 
in  the  ministry,  though  that  is  the  heart  of  it. 
Paul's  grand  conception  is  related  to  modern 
ideas  of  the  ministry  by  sufficient  use  of  the  great 
writers  of  our  time  on  the  preacher's  problems. 
These  are  shown  to  share  Paul's  enthusiasm.     The 


PREFACE  9 

flame  of  the  Lord  that  burned  in  Paul's  breast  blazes 
yet.  Many  of  the  noblest  spirits  of  our  time  an- 
swer the  call  of  Christ  with  joy  and  gladness  of  heart. 
The  substance  of  this  book  was  delivered  in  ad- 
dresses before  the  Tabernacle  Bible  Conference 
(Atlanta,  Ga.,  March,  191 1),  but  the  book  has  been 
written  independently  of  that  occasion. 

A.  T.  Robertson. 

Louisville^  Ky, 


Contents 
I 

The  Disheartened  Preacher's  Joy— 

The  New  Standpoint         .       13 

II 

The    Glory    that    Faded — 

The  Modern  Problem        .       51 

III 

The  Light  in  the  Face  of  Jesus— 

The  Attraction  of  Christ  .       83 

IV 

With  Open  Face — 

The  Preacher's  Privilege    .     113 

V 

This  Treasure  in  Earthen  Vessels — 

The  Human  Limitations  .     141 

VI 

The   Weight  of  Glory—  . 

The   Invisible  Consolation     10 1 

VII 

Well  Pleasing  Unto  Him — 

The      Preacher's     Master 

Passion  .         •         •     ^79 

VIII 

In  Glory  and  Dishonour — 

Taking  Life  as  It  Is         .     207 

II 


I 

THE  DISHEARTENED  PREACHER'S  JOY 
—THE  NEW  STANDPOINT 

(2  Cor,  a.  i2-iii.  6) 

«  I  had  no  relief  for  my  spirit  .  .  . 
But  thanks  be  unto  God,  who  always 
leadeth  us  in  triumph  in  Christ." 

—5  Cor.  a.  13 f* 


THE  DISHEARTENED  PREACHER'S  JOY— 
THE  NEW  STANDPOINT 

I.     The  Ground  of  Paul's  Discouragement 

IT  was  chiefly  the  situation  in  Corinth,  a  church 
that  Paul  had  founded.*  He  loved  this  church 
very  greatly.  It  seemed  to  have  the  greatest 
opportunity  for  usefulness  and  power  of  any  of  the 
European  churches.  It  was  in  a  new  atmosphere  of 
wealth  and  progress.  The  city  had  been  restored 
by  Julius  Caesar  after  being  in  ruins  for  a  hundred 
years  since  Mummius  destroyed  it.  It  was  more 
open  to  the  Gospel  than  Athens  where  a  fondness 
for  philosophical  speculation  made  it  hard  to  win  a 
foothold.'^  Corinth  had  been  more  fertile  ground. 
Indeed,  Paul  had  succeeded  only  too  well  there,  for 
the  Jews  soon  grew  jealous  of  his  power.^  Two 
years  *  Paul  had  lived  and  laboured  in  this  great  and 
wicked  metropolis.  It  had  not  been  in  vain.  He 
had  seen  the  ruler  of  the  Jewish  synagogue,  Crispus, 
become  a  Christian.^     He  had  received  from  Gallio, 

*  Acts  xviii.  I-20.         'Acts  xvii.  16-34.         ^  Acts  xviii.  5-17. 
*Acts  xviii.  II,  18.  6  Acts  xviii.  yf. 

15 


l6        THE  DISHEARTENED   PREACHER'S  JOY 

the  new  proconsul,  the  first  official  permission  to 
preach  the  Gospel  in  the  Roman  Empire  that  gave 
Christianity  a  new  standing  in  the  Province  of 
Achaia.'  Paul  loved  the  church  in  Corinth  with  his 
whole  heart.  "  For  though  ye  have  ten  thousand 
tutors  in  Christ,  yet  have  ye  not  many  fathers ;  for 
in  Christ  Jesus  I  begat  you  through  the  Gospel."^ 
But  a  series  of  mishaps  had  come  to  the  work 
in  Corinth.  One  disaster  had  followed  another  till 
Paul  feared  the  very  worst.  Few  sadder  experiences 
come  to  the  preacher  than  to  see  the  work  of  his 
heart  crumble  away  after  he  has  left  it.  Almost  all 
of  the  modern  preacher's  difficulties  confronted  Paul 
in  the  work  at  Corinth.  He  could  not  shake  off 
*'  that  which  presseth  upon  me  daily,  anxiety  for  all 
the  churches."  ^  The  pressure^  was  like  a  nightmare 
that  weighed  upon  him  unceasingly.  The  anxiety  '^ 
ate  into  his  soul  like  corroding  rust.  Paul  knew 
how  to  preach:  "  In  nothing  be  anxious."  ^  But  it 
is  easier  to  preach  than  to  practice.  No  church 
pressed   upon   Paul's   heart  quite  so  heavily  as  did 

»  Ramsay,  "St.  Paul  the  Traveller,"  pp.  257 f.;  Robertson,  "  Epochs 
in  the  Life  of  Paul,"  pp.  165  f.;  Acts  xviii.  12-17. 

2  I  Cor.  iv.  15. 

'  2  Cor.  xi.  28  ^  iT:i<JTaai<s  fiot  ij  kad^  i][iipav^  i)  [xipijiva 
Tzaatbv  rwv  ikkX-qniibv, 

*  iizi-ffzaaiq  standing  upon.  ^  fxipi/iva. 

•  Phil.  iv.  6  /jLTjdkv  fisptfivare.  Present  imperative  with  fx-/j 
implies  that  they  were  anxious.     "Quit  being  anxious." 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  1 7 

that  in  Corinth.  It  was  a  richly  endowed  church 
with  great  spiritual  gifts  and  possibilities.*  But 
these  very  endowments  of  grace  had  become  the  oc- 
casion of  envy  and  faction.  The  divisions  showed 
themselves  even  at  the  Lord's  Supper  in  unseemly 
scramble  and  selfishness.^  They  would  not  even 
wait  for  one  another.  There  was  schism  in  the  body 
of  Christ  and  the  members  were  hostile  towards  one 
another.^  The  very  services  in  church  were  scenes 
of  disorder  and  confusion.^  They  took  sides  for 
Paul  and  against  Paul,  for  ApoUos  and  against  Apol- 
los,  for  Cephas  and  against  Cephas.^  It  was  so  bad 
that  Apollos  would  not  stay  nor  would  he  return  to 
Corinth,  though  Paul  urged  him.^  Some  praised  the 
oratory  of  Apollos,  others  probably  thought  him  too 
"  flowery."  Some  thought  that  Paul's  speech  was  of 
no  account,^  while  others  stoutly  defended  Paul  as  the 
founder  of  the  Church  and  the  gifted  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles.  The  household  of  Chloe^  in  particular  re- 
ported to  Paul  in  Ephesus  the  sad  situation.  Peter 
had  probably  not  been  to  Corinth,  but  there  had 
been  a  momentary  breach  between  Paul  and  Peter  at 
Antioch  over  the  question  of  social  affiliation  with 

1  I  Cor.  i.  4-9,  12-14.  3  I  Cor.  xi,  18  ff.,  33. 

3  I  Cor.  xii.  25.  4  I  Cor.  xiv. 

^  1  Cor.  i.  10-13;  i"'  21  ff. ;  iv.  6ff. 

^  Acts  xviii.  27-xix.  I ;   i  Cor.  xvi.  12. 

'2  Cor.  X.  10.  81  Cor.  iv.  II. 


1 8      THE   DISHEARTENED   PREACHER'S  JOY 

the  Gentile  Christians/  and  the  Judaizers  had  been 
swift  to  make  the  most  of  it  and  had  claimed  Peter 
as  on  their  side  in  the  controversy  with  Paul.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  Peter  was  really  with  Paul  and  he  had 
shown  merely  momentary  weakness  when  the  Juda- 
izers, under  the  unwarranted  use  of  the  name  of  James, 
refused  to  recognize  the  Gentiles  as  Christians  unless 
they  became  Jews  also.  These  Judaizers  had  been 
silenced  for  the  moment  at  the  Jerusalem  confer- 
ence,^ but  had  reopened  the  controversy  on  a  more 
extensive  scale  than  before.  They  had  come  to 
Corinth  and  had  used  the  name  of  Peter  in  support 
of  their  campaign  against  Paul.  There  was  also  a 
partisan  use  of  the  name  of  Christ  by  one  faction  in 
the  Church.  Doctrinal  issues  thus  became  mixed 
with  intense  personahties  and  jealousies.  Few 
modern  churches  have  had  a  more  deplorable  schism 
than  was  a  reality  in  Corinth.  Besides,  gross  im- 
morality was  winked  at  by  the  majority.^  The  feel- 
ing was  so  intense  that  the  members  would  go  to  law 
against  one  another  before  heathen  judges.'*  There 
were  abuses  concerning  marriage.^  There  was  a 
breach  between  the  enlightened  and  the  unenlight- 
ened elements  of  the  Church  on  the  subject  of  meats 
offered   to   idols.^     The  liberal   and  the  reactionary 

1  Acts  XV.  1-35;  Gal.  ii.  «  Acts  xv.  1-30;  Gal.  ii.  i-io. 

'  I  Cor.  V.       4  I  Cor.  vi.  i-ii.      ^  i  Cor.  vii.       «  i  Cor.  viii.-x. 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  19 

parties  were  at  daggers'  points  with  each  other. 
Some  of  them  had  gone  so  far  in  doctrinal  error  as 
to  deny  the  resurrection.^  The  collection  for  the 
poor  saints  in  Jerusalem,  which  Paul  had  pushed 
with  energy  elsewhere,  had  sadly  fallen  behind  in 
Corinth,^  and  no  wonder,  with  all  the  strife  and  con- 
fusion rampant  there.  It  was  enough  to  break  any 
preacher's  heart.  Paul  rose  to  the  occasion  grandly. 
He  wrote  them  a  letter  which  is  lost  to  us.^  Then 
he  sent  Timothy,  his  beloved  son  in  the  gospel,  to 
see  what  he  could  do.^  Timothy,  though  warmly 
commended  to  the  Church,^  seems  not  to  have  been 
very  successful  in  his  mission.  It  is  possible  that 
Timothy  was  mistreated  in  Corinth  because  Paul 
himself  was  expected.^  Paul  had  indeed  intended  to 
go  to  Corinth,  but  had  meanwhile  sent  Timothy. 
He  hoped  to  come  soon,  but  did  not  wish  to  come 
with  a  rod.^  He  did  later  speak  of  a  "  third  time,"  ^ 
but  this  is  probably  intention,  not  fact.  Indeed  the 
situation  was  so  bad  that  Paul  did  not  wish  to  go  to 
Corinth.  He  must  needs  come  with  sorrow  in  that 
case.^     He  remained  away  on  purpose  and  allowed 


*  I  Cor.  XV.  8  I  Cor.  xvi.  I  f.;  2  Cor.  viii.  and  ix. 

3  I  Cor.  V.  9,  II.  4  I  Cor.  iv.  17.  ^  I  Cor.  xvi.  10. 

6Cf.  Findlay,  "Paul"  in  Hastings's  B.  D.;    Robertson,  "Epochs 
in  the  Life  of  Paul,"  p.  191. 

'  I  Cor.  iv.  17-21.  82  Cor.  xii.  14;  xiii.  I. 

9  2  Cor.  i.  15,  23;  ii.  i ;  xii.  21. 


20      THE   DISHEARTENED   PREACHER'S  JOY 

himself  to  be  charged  with  fickleness  *  and  cowardice  ^ 
rather  than  come  while  his  indignation  was  at  such 
heat.  Meanwhile,  the  Church  sent  a  special  deputa- 
tion (Stephanus,  Fortunatus,  Achaicus)^  to  Paul. 
Paul  wrote  the  powerful  Epistle  called  First  Corin- 
thians in  which  he  poured  out  his  heart  to  them.  After 
the  return  of  Timothy  Paul  sent  Titus,  who  seemed 
to  be  made  of  sterner  stuff  than  Timothy.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  Paul  sent  another  letter  with  Titus,  de- 
manding an  apology  for  the  treatment  of  Timothy. 
If  so,  that  letter  is  lost  to  us.^  The  plan  was  for 
Titus  to  come  back  via  Macedonia  and  meet  Paul  at 
Troas.^  Paul  was  to  leave  Ephesus  about  Pentecost 
for  Corinth  through  Macedonia.^  At  Troas  he 
would  thus  meet  Titus  and  learn  how  things  went  in 
Corinth. 

But  our  best  laid  plans  "  aft  gang  agley."  Paul 
seems  to  have  had  a  well-nigh  fatal  sickness  in 
Ephesus  soon  after  writing  First  Corinthians.  "  We 
ourselves  have  had  the  sentence  of  death  within 
ourselves."^  Death  came  so  close  to  Paul  that  he 
seemed  to  get  the  "  answer  "  ^  in  speech.     The  peril 

»  2  Cor.  i.  15-20.  2  2  Cor.  x.  8-1 1.  ^  1  Cor.  xvi.  17. 

*  Some  scholars  hold  that  2  Corinthians  x.-xiii.  is  this  lost  letter 
which  has  been  put  in  the  wrong  place  in  2  Corinthians.  I  do  not 
accept  that  view.  See  Robertson,  "  Epochs  in  the  Life  of  Paul," 
p.  196. 

6  2  Cor.  ii.  I2f.;  vii.  5-7.  ^  i  Cor.  xvi.  5-8. 

'  2  Cor.  i.  9.  8  The  '«  sentence." 


THE  NEW   STANDPOINT  21 

was  so  great  that  it  is  still  a  vivid  reality  to  Paul  as 
he  writes.'  So  he  seemed  to  be  dying.^  Thus  it 
was  out  of  his  experience  that  Paul  could  write  so 
sympathetically  about  death.'  In  his  great  physical 
weakness  the  daily  duties  of  life  were  a  burden  to 
him,  not  to  mention  the  serious  situation  in  Corinth. 
His  weakened  nerves  would  make  the  troubles  seem 
magnified  a  hundredfold. 

But  this  was  not  all.  While  Paul  was  in  this  over- 
wrought state  a  riot  occurred  in  Ephesus.  Deme- 
trius had  organized  the  silversmiths  into  a  mob 
against  Paul.  The  whole  city  was  soon  in  an  uproar 
in  the  theatre.^  Paul,  probably  because  of  his  sick- 
ness, was  not  found,  though  his  companions  in  travel, 
Gaius  and  Aristarchus,  were  seized.  Paul  could  with 
difficulty  be  restrained  from  rushing  into  the  theatre. 
The  Asiarchs  helped  the  disciples  restrain  Paul.^  So 
Paul's  hfe  was  saved,  but  it  was  not  prudent  for  him 
to  remain  in  Ephesus.  He  left  in  rather  short  order 
for  Macedonia.^  Paul  was  somewhat  like  the  preacher 
who  has  resigned  without  a  call  to  another  field.  His 
departure  from  Ephesus  was  sudden  and  uncere- 
monious, but  he  had  the  world  before  him.  He  was 
used  to  moving  on  when  he  was  no  longer  welcome. 
Will  he  be  more  welcome  in  Corinth  ? 

*  Historical  present  perfect.      2  2  Cor,  vi.  9.      ^  2  Cor,  iv.  and  v. 
<  Acts  xix.  23-28.  5  Acts  xix.  29-31.  «Acts  xx.  I. 


22       THE  DISHEARTENED   PREACHER'S  JOY 

2.  PauVs  Restless  Spirit  at  Troas 
He  was  apparently  alone  at  Troas,  for  Timothy 
and  Erastus  had  already  been  sent  on  to  Macedonia.* 
It  was  not  yet  time  for  Titus  to  arrive  at  Troas.  It 
was  at  Troas  that  Paul  had  met  Luke  and  had  re- 
ceived the  call  to  go  to  Macedonia.^  Then  it  had 
not  been  possible  for  Paul  to  do  much  work  in  Troas. 
Now  in  God's  providence  he  is  here  again.  Perhaps 
the  hand  of  God  is  in  it.  He  had  come  "  for  the 
gospel  of  Christ."  ^  Paul  had  evidently  looked  for- 
ward to  this  opportunity  to  be  a  blessing  to  Troas. 
Besides,  "  a  door  was  opened  unto  me  in  the  Lord."  ^ 
It  was  not  a  mere  general  situation,  but  apparently 
Paul  means  to  say  that  direct  appeals  came  to  him  to 
speak  a  word  for  Jesus.  But  it  was  of  no  use.  "  I 
had  no  rehef  for  my  spirit,  because  I  found  not  Titus 
my  brother."  ^  It  is  a  vivid  reality  to  Paul  now,  as 
he  writes,  "  I  have  not  had  any  release  for  my 
spirit."  The  tension  had  become  acute.  It  had 
gone  on  so  long  that  it  was  chronic.  He  could  not 
throw  it  off.  In  truth,  he  was  incapacitated  for  work 
of  any  kind.  He  needed  Luke,  who  was  probably 
in  Philippi,  to  take  hold  of  him  and  bring  him  back 
to  health.  Many  a  preacher  has  found  himself  caught 
in  the  coil  of  circumstances,  as  was  Paul,  when  he 

1  Acts  xix.  29-41.  2  Acts  xvi,  8-10.  ^2  Cor.  ii.  12. 

*2Cor.  ii.  12.  62  Cor.  ii.  13.     Historical  present  perfect 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  23 

cannot  respond  to  the  calls  for  service  that  come  to 
him,  cannot  enter  the  doors  that  open  to  him.     This 
is  a  dangerous  hour  for  the  preacher.     His  heart  is 
in    danger   of   rebellion.     Then    when   the    door   is 
closed,  the  door  that  opened  to  large  fields  of  useful- 
ness, resentment  may  harden  the  heart.     There  was 
no  happiness  for  Paul  in  Troas.     He  had  lost  his 
zest   for  work   and   idleness  was  despair.     He  was 
more  miserable  alone  than  otherwise.     He  knew  that 
it  was  not  yet  time  for  Titus  to  come,  for  Paul  had 
come   on   ahead   of  time.     But,  none   the  less,  his 
spirit  chafed  at  the  limitations  of  his  plight.     Every- 
thing seemed  to  have  gone  wrong.     There  was  no 
joy  any  more  for  Paul's  restless  spirit.     One  of  the 
charges  made  against  some  ministers  to-day  is  just 
this  restlessness  of  spirit  here  shown  by  Paul.     One 
is  seized  with  a  feverish  desire  to  go  elsewhere,  to  get 
a  call  to  a  more  hopeful  field,  to  resign  this  field,  to 
move  on  to  pastures  new.     There  comes  a  sense  of 
drudgery  in  the  tasks  of  every-day  life.     The  gold  is 
at  the  end  of  the  rainbow,  and  here  is  only  steady, 
plodding  toil  in  a  rather  humdrum  ministry.     The 
temptation  may  even  come  to  give  up  the  ministry 
and  enter  some  other  calling.     At  such  a  time  one  is 
oversensitive  and  imagines  all  kinds  of  slights  and 
insults.     The  real   difficulties  and  problems  of  the 
ministry  are  magnified  out  of  all  proportion  to  the 


24      THE   DISHEARTENED   PREACHER'S  JOY 

facts.  In  such  a  case  a  minister  is  in  jeopardy.  He 
is  in  danger  of  becoming  bitter  towards  the  world, 
jealous  of  other  ministers,  disgusted  with  his  own 
task.  Thus  he  will  lose  his  compass  and  drift  out  to 
sea. 

In  The  Standard  (Chicago)  for  January  7,  191 1, 
there  is  printed  the  following  letter  : 

"My  Dear  Jim:  I  am  through.  Yesterday  I 
handed  in  my  resignation,  to  take  effect  at  once,  and 

this    morning    I   began  work   for  the  Land 

Company.  I  shall  not  return  to  the  pastorate.  I 
think  I  can  see  into  your  heart  as  you  read  these 
words  and  behold  not  a  little  disappointment,  if  not 
disgust.  I  don't  blame  you  at  all,  for  I  am  some- 
what disgusted  with  myself.  Do  you  recall  the  days 
in  the  seminary  when  we  talked  of  the  future  and 
painted  pictures  of  what  we  were  to  do  for  the  king- 
dom of  God  ?  We  saw  the  boundless  need  for  un- 
selfish Christian  service  and  longed  to  be  out  among 
men  doing  our  part  towards  the  world's  redemption. 
I  shall  never  forget  that  last  talk  on  the  night  before 
our  graduation.     You  were  to  go  to  the  foreign  field 

and  I  to  the  First  Church,  of .     We  had  brave 

dreams  of  usefulness,  and  you  have  realized  them. 
As  I  look  back  across  twenty-five  years  I  can  see  some 
lives  that  I  have  helped,  and  some  things  which  I 
have  been  permitted  to  do  that  are  worth  while  ;  but, 
sitting  here  to-night,  I  am  more  than  half  convinced 
that  God  never  intended  me  to  be  a  minister.  If  He 
did,  I  am  not  big  enough  and  brave  enough  to  pay 
the  price.  Even  if  it  leads  you  to  write  me  down  a 
coward,  I'm  going  to  tell  you  why  I've  quit. 

"■  To  be  perfectly  honest  with  you,  money  has  had 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  25 

much  to  do  with  my  decision.  I  think  you  will  not 
charge  me  with  being  mercenary  in  those  days  when 
you  knew  me  well,  and  I  am  not  conscious  of  caring 
any  more  for  money  now  than  I  did  then.  I  have 
never  desired  to  be  rich ;  I  do  not  now  desire  to  be. 
I  have  not  gone  into  business  with  any  expectation 
of  making  a  fortune,  but  I  do  want  to  have  some- 
thing for  the  years  when  I  can  no  longer  work,  and 
for  my  family,  if  I  should  be  taken  from  them.  I  do 
want  to  be  able  to  meet  my  bills  as  they  fall  due.  A 
month  ago  in  our  ministers'  meeting  an  old  minister, 
shabby  almost  to  raggedness,  arose  and  told  us  that 
he  and  his  wife  were  on  the  verge  of  starvation.  He 
had  no  money,  his  credit  was  exhausted,  they  had  no 
food,  no  coal,  and  were  about  to  be  put  upon  the 
street  because  they  could  not  pay  the  rent.  We 
raised  some  thirty  dollars  among  us  and  gave  it  to 
him,  and  I  suppose  he  will  go  to  the  home  for  aged 
ministers ;  but  it  scared  me.  I  saw  myself  in  him. 
What  reason  have  I  to  expect  that  I  shall  not  be 
where  he  is  twenty  years  from  now  ? 

"  Frugality  ?  Well,  I  have  not  been  thriftless. 
Wife  and  I  have  tried  hard  to  lay  by  a  little  each 
year.  We  did  get  $500  saved  up,  and  then  Edna 
was  taken  with  tuberculosis  and  it  all  went,  and  much 
more,  before  God  took  her  home.     I  had  ^1,000  per 

year    from   the   church    at    B .      They   paid   it 

promptly,  and  possibly  some  men  would  have  been 
able  to  save  something  out  of  it  each  year.  We  tried 
our  best,  and  failed.  Once  the  church  thought  of  in- 
creasing the  pastor's  salary,  but  Deacon  Edmunds 
argued  that  the  minister  should  trust  God  ;  said  that 
when  he  began  hfe  he  only  had  an  income  of  ^200 
for  the  first  year  ;  spoke  of  the  joys  of  Christian 
sacrifice  ;  pointed  to  the  Saviour  of  the  world  and 
His  self-abnegation,  and  the  salary  was  not  increased. 
I  may  say  that  the  deacon  is  supposed  to  be  worth 


26      THE  DISHEARTENED   PREACHER'S  JOY 

not  less  than  ^200,000.  Then  I  was  called  to  this 
field  at  ;^i,200  per  year.  I  have  been  here  seven 
years,  and  there  has  never  been  a  month  since  the 
beginning  when  my  salary  has  been  paid  promptly. 
At  times  the  church  has  owed  me  ^600  and  ^700. 
I  have  borrowed  and  paid  interest,  have  '  stood  off  ' 
my  creditors  until  I  was  ashamed  to  go  upon  the 
street,  have  scrimped  and  twisted  and  wiggled  until 
my  soul  was  raw.     I've  had  enough. 

••  Other  things  have  contributed  to  my  decision. 
In  these  years  I  have  found  not  a  few  earnest,  un- 
selfish, consecrated  Christians.  I  do  not  believe  that 
I  am  specially  morbid  or  unfair  in  my  estimate.  So 
far  as  I  know  my  own  heart,  I  am  not  bitter.  But 
through  all  these  years  a  conviction  has  been  grow- 
ing within  me  that  the  average  church-member  cares 
precious  little  about  the  kingdom  of  God  and  its  ad- 
vancement, or  the  welfare  of  his  fellow  men.  ,.  He  is 
a  Christian  in  order  that  he  may  save  his  soul  from 
hell,  and  for  no  other  reason.  He  does  as  little  as  he 
can,  lives  as  indifferently  as  he  dares.  If  he  thought 
he  could  gain  heaven  without  even  lifting  his  finger 
for  others,  he  would  jump  at  the  chance.  Never 
have  I  known  more  than  a  small  minority  of  any 
church  which  I  have  served  to  be  really  interested  in 
and  unselfishly  devoted  to  God's  work.  It  took  my 
whole  time  to  pull  and  push  and  urge  and  persuade 
the  reluctant  members  of  my  church  to  undertake  a 
little  something  for  their  fellow  men.  They  took  a 
covenant  to  be  faithful  in  attendance  upon  the  serv- 
ices of  the  church,  and  not  one  out  of  ten  ever 
thought  of  attending  prayer-meeting.  A  large  per- 
centage seldom  attended  church  in  the  morning,  and 
a  pitifully  small  number  in  the  evening.  It  did  not 
seem  to  mean  anything  to  them  that  they  had  dedi- 
cated themselves  to  the  service  of  Christ. 

"  I  am  tired;  tired  of  being  the  only  one  iathe 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  27 

church  from  whom  real  sacrifice  is  expected;  tired 
of  straining  and  tugging  to  get  Christian  people  to 
Hve  Hke  Christians ;  tired  of  planning  work  for  my 
people  and  then  being  compelled  to  do  it  myself  or 
see  it  left  undone ;  tired  of  dodging  my  creditors 
when  I  would  not  need  to  if  I  had  what  is  due  me; 
tired  of  the  affrighting  vision  of  a  penniless  old  age. 
I  am  not  leaving  Christ.  I  love  Him.  I  shall  still 
try  to  serve  Him. 

"  Judge  me  leniently,  old  man,  for  I  cannot  bear 
to  lose  your  friendship. 

"  Yours  as  of  old, 

'*  William." 

The  editor  vouches  for  the  genuineness  of  this  let- 
ter. It  is  probably  an  actual  experience,  an  extreme 
instance  of  a  broken-hearted  preacher  of  to-day. 

But  a  most  notable  instance  of  struggle  and  tri- 
umph is  revealed  in  the  "  Early  Letters  of  Marcus 
Dods."  In  his  Diary  for  March  8,  i860,  p.  382,  we 
read  this  confession  of  his  experience  as  a  '•  proba- 
tioner "  :  "  No  day  passes  without  strong  tempta- 
tion to  give  up  this  work — this  temptation  appeals 
to  me  on  the  ground  that  I  am  not  fitted  for  pastoral 
work ;  writing  sermons  is  often  the  hardest  labour  to 
me,  visiting  is  terrible.  I  often  stand  before  a  door 
unable  to  ring  or  knock — sometimes  I  have  gone 
away  without  entering.  A  lowness  of  spirit  that  it 
costs  me  a  great  deal  to  throw  off  is  the  consequence 
of  this,  and  a  real  doubt  whether  it  would  not  be 
better  for  myself  and  all  whom  it  may  concern  that 


28      THE  DISHEARTENED   PREACHER'S  JOY 

I  should  at  once  look  for  some  work  that  I  could 
overtake.  However,  the  one  thing  that  has  kept  me 
going  hitherto  is  this,  that  when  I  am  in  the  best  of 
spirit  these  disinclinations  to  work  go  from  me,  and 
I  fear  I  have  hitherto  had  so  little  comfort  in  the 
work  only  because  my  habitual  state  is  unspiritual." 
He  was,  in  fact,  a  probationer  for  six  years,  a  really 
terrible  experience  for  a  young  minister.  But  Mar- 
cus Dods  came  to  be  the  principal  of  New  College 
and  one  of  the  chief  Biblical  scholars  and  preachers 
of  the  world. 

But  it  may  be  noticed  that  deep  down  as  Paul  had 
gone,  it  did  not  occur  to  him  to  quit  the  ministry. 
He  was  entitled  to  pay  which  he  did  not  receive 
from  the  Church  at  Corinth.*  He  proved  his  right 
to  receive  a  man's  pay  for  his  work,  but  he  would 
not  receive  it  from  a  church  hke  that  at  Corinth 
which  taunted  him  for  not  taking  pay  like  a  regular 
apostle.^  He  had  seen  days  in  Corinth  when  he 
"  was  in  want,"  but  he  had  kept  his  manhood  and 
independence  and  "  was  not  a  burden  on  any  man." 
He  had  even  "  robbed  other  churches,  taking  wages 
of  them  that  I  might  minister  unto  you."  He  had 
made  tents  with  Aquila  and  Priscilla  so  as  to  get  a 
living  while  he  preached  in  Corinth.^  But  he  would 
have  none  of  the  money  of  the  narrow  element  in 

» I  Cor.  ix.  6-18,  » 2  Cor.  xi.  5-12.  •  Acts  xviii.  3f. 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  29 

Corinth.*  On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  Church  in 
Corinth  accused  Paul  of  sending  Titus  to  raise  the 
collection  for  himself.^  Paul,  they  said,  was  the 
chief  "poor  saint"  for  whom  the  collection  was  de- 
signed. His  motives  were  impugned  from  every 
standpoint.  He  was  called  a  worldly  man  ^  and  an 
interloper*  also.  But,  while  all  this  we  know,  Paul 
did  not  give  up  the  ministry.  He  was  disheart- 
ened, too  discouraged  to  work  at  Troas,  but  it  was 
due  to  the  very  intensity  of  his  interest  in  the  cause 
of  Christ,  not  to  his  indifference  nor  selfishness.  If 
he  could  not  stay  at  Troas,  he  could  go  on  elsewhere. 

3.  The  Gloomy  Journey  to  Macedonia 
It  was  with  a  heavy  heart  that  Paul  turned  away 
from  the  open  door  in  Troas  to  push  on  into  the  un- 
certain future.  "  But  taking  leave  of  them  I  Avent 
forth  into  Macedonia."  ^  There  were,  then,  disciples 
at  Troas.  It  was  probably  a  journey  alone.  He 
could  take  ship  at  Troas  for  Neapolis  and  then  go 
on  to  Philippi.  At  Philippi  was  Luke  in  all  likeli- 
hood. It  is  possible,  even  probable,  that  Titus  was 
the  brother  of  Luke.^  But  Paul's  mind  doubtless 
conjured  up  all  the  evil  contingencies  at  Corinth. 

1  2  Cor.  xi.  10.  2  2  Cor.  xii.  16  ff. 

3  2  Cor.  X.  3.  4  2  Cor.  x.  14  f. 

5  2  Cor.  ii.  13,     He  made  an  orderly  and  courteous  departure. 
62  Cor.  viii.   16,  18;  xii,   18.     Titus  is  not  mentioned  in  Acts. 
Cf.  Souter.  «'  Luke,"  in  Hastings's  D.  C.  G. 


30      THE  DISHEARTENED  PREACHER'S  JOY 

The  ship  went  all  too  slowly  for  him.  "  For  even 
when  we  were  come  into  Macedonia  our  flesh  had 
no  relief,  but  we  were  afflicted  on  every  side ;  with- 
out were  fightings,  within  were  fears."  *  Much  as 
Paul  longed  to  see  Titus,  he  yet  dreaded  to  hear  his 
report.  Suppose  the  Church  has  refused  to  recede 
from  its  position  ?  The  matters  at  Corinth  had  nar- 
rowed down  to  a  Pauline  and  an  anti-Pauline  con- 
test. His  whole  position  and  influence  as  an  apostle 
were  involved.  How  had  they  taken  the  rather 
sharp  2  letter  which  he  had  felt  compelled  to  write  ? 
He  went  on  to  Philippi  with  the  clouds  of  doubt 
about  his  head  and  premonition  in  his  heart.  This 
time  he  speaks  of  his  flesh  ^  as  having  no  rest  on 
the  way.  He  had  found  that  unrest  of  spirit  brought 
unrest  to  the  flesh  in  sleepless  nights,  and  miserable 
days.  He  knew  what  insomnia^  was.  He  has  had 
this  restlessness  of  mind  and  body  all  the  way.*^  In 
truth  the  voyage  was  one  of  affliction  in  everything.^ 
He  had  reached  the  stage  when  nothing  agreed  with 
him.  All  the  world  seemed  awry  and  he  could  not 
set  it  right.  He  was  out  of  tune  with  everything. 
What  he  means  by  "  fightings  without,"  ^  we  do  not 


>  2  Cor.  vii.  5.  «  2  Cor.  vii.  8.  *  2  Cor.  vii.  5. 

*  2  Cor.  vi.  5  ;  cf.  2  Cor.  xi.  27. 

8  2  Cor.  vii.  5.     Present  perfect  tense. 

«  Note  the  anacoluthon  due  to  Paul's  passion. 

'  2  Cor.  vii.  5. 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  31 

know.  The  words  suggest  actual  conflicts  of  some 
sort.  He  had  fights  with  "  wild  beasts  at  Ephesus,"  * 
probably  referring  to  his  enemies.  Perhaps  on  board 
the  ship  Paul  encountered  some  old  or  new  enemies 
(Jews,  Gentiles,  or  Judaizers),  for  he  had  many  kinds 
of  foes.2  The  "  fears  within  "  were  the  ever  present 
apprehensions.  These  were  his  worst  foes,  those  of 
the  mind.  It  is,  in  truth,  a  mournful  picture  that  the 
great  apostle  has  drawn  of  himself  at  this  crisis  in 
his  Hfe.  We  see  Paul  here  in  his  hour  of  weakness. 
It  is  not  a  just  picture  of  himself  which  we  get,  but 
it  is  a  true  portrayal  of  his  outlook  on  the  world  at 
this  juncture.  There  is  thus  a  bond  of  sympathy 
between  this  greatest  of  all  the  ministers  of  Jesus  and 
the  humblest  one  to-day  who  may  be  thrown  down 
by  the  world  spirit.  If  Paul  is  able  to  look  on  the 
bright  side  of  the  preacher's  life,  he  knows  what  the 
dark  side  is.  There  is  plenty  of  cloud  in  his  life  to 
set  off  the  light.  Indeed,  when  Paul  is  driven  to 
boast  of  his  work  in  comparison  with  that  of  the 
Judaizers  at  Corinth  it  is  the  catalogue  of  his 
trials  which  he  counts.^  He  has  his  "  prisons,"  his 
"stripes,"  his  "shipwreck,"  his  "perils"  of  various 
kinds,  his  "  watchings  often,"  his  "  hunger  and 
thirst."  "  If  I  must  needs  glory,  I  will  glory  of  the 
things  that  concern   my  weakness."     But  just  now 

1 1  Cor.  XV.  32.  2  2  Cor.  xi.  26.  ^  2  Cor.  xi.  23-33. 


32      THE  DISHEARTENED  PREACHER'S  JOY 

Paul  cannot  glory  even  in  his  weakness.  He  cannot 
glory  in  anything.  He  is  a  broken  man,  broken  in 
spirit  and  in  body.  Who  can  help  Paul  now?' 
This  is  not  the  time  for  Paul  to  take  stock  of  his 
ministry. 

4.  The  Rebound  of  Heart  at  Philippi 
Without  a  word  of  explanation  Paul  leaps  out  of 
the  Slough  of  Despond  and  springs  like  a  bird  to  the 
heights  of  joy.^  He  soars  aloft  like  an  eagle  with 
proud  scorn  of  the  valley  beneath  him.  "  But  thanks 
be  unto  God  who  always  leadeth  us  in  triumph  in 
Christ."  ^  A  high-strung  nature  like  that  of  Paul  is 
capable  of  such  extremes  of  emotion.  Laughter  and 
tears  lie  close  to  each  other.  Joy  lives  next  door  to 
sorrow,  ay,  in  the  same  house  and  heart.  Many  a 
preacher  can  bear  glad  testimony  to  the  psycho- 
logical correctness  of  Paul's  description  of  his  sudden 
transition  from  night  to  day.  We  are  accustomed  to 
sudden,  even  violent,  digressions  ^  in  Paul's  writings, 
and   the   matter,   in   the  light  of  his  relations  with 

>  2  Cor.  xi.  29, 

2  Bachmann,  Der  Zweiie  Brief  des  Pauliis  an  die  Korinther. 
S.  124,  says  :  "  Aus  der  Tiefe  in  die  Hohe." 

3  2  Cor.  ii.  14. 

4 '« Instead  of  giving  details  of  the  information  which  Titus  brought 
to  him  in  Macedonia  (vii.  6),  he  bursts  out  into  a  characteristic 
doxology,  which  leads  him  into  a  long  digression,  the  main  topic  of 
the  epistle  not  coming  into  view  again  until  vi.  II."  Bernard, 
"  Expositor's  Greek  Testament,"  in  loco. 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  33 

Corinth,  would  be  sufficiently  clear  from  the  knowl- 
edge that  Titus  met  Paul  in  Philippi  with  better  news 
from  Corinth  than  he  had  anticipated.  At  once  the 
clouds  had  lifted  and  the  sky  was  clear  again.  But, 
at  this  point  in  the  Epistle,  Paul  is  completely  carried 
away  with  joy  at  the  coming  of  Titus,  too  entirely 
swept  off  into  rhapsody  to  make  any  explanation  of 
his  emotions.  He  does  make  the  explanation  later 
in  the  Epistle  '  after  he  has  come  back  to  earth.  It 
is  just  this  rhapsody  with  which  this  book  is  con- 
cerned, but,  before  proceeding  with  that,  it  will  be  well 
to  notice  Paul's  explanation  of  his  state  of  exalta- 
tion. "  Nevertheless  He  that  comforteth  the  lowly, 
even  God,  comforted  us  by  the  coming  of  Titus."  ^ 
The  word  "  comfort  "  ^  is  a  common  one,  particularly 
in  this  Epistle.  It  combines  the  notions  of  exhorta- 
tion and  consolation.  Paul  was  glad  to  see  Titus, 
for  he  dearly  loved  this  son  in  the  gospel,  his  "  true 
child  after  a  common  faith,"  ^  but  he  was  even  more 
rejoiced  at  the  news  which  he  bore :  "  And  not  by 
his  coming  only,  but  also  by  the  comfort  wherewith 
he  was  comforted  in  you,  while  he  told  us  your  long- 
ing, your  mourning,  your  zeal  for  me ;  so  that  I  re- 
joiced yet  more."  ^     The  "  longing  "  ^  was  to  see  Paul 


*  2  Cor.  vii.  5-16.  ^  2  Cor.  vii.  6.  ^  Call  to  one's  side. 

4  Titus  i.  4.  5  2  Cor.  vii.  7. 

®  Eager  longing  in  the  Greek.     Cf.  Phil.  i.  8. 


34      THE   DISHEARTENED   PREACHER'S  JOY 

and  it  was  music  to  his  ears  to  hear  a  message  like 
that  from  Corinth  after  all  that  had  passed.  Possibly 
Paul  made  Titus  tell  it  over  again  ^  with  all  the  de- 
tails, the  names,  what  they  said,  etc.  It  was  a  charm- 
ing story  to  recount,  as  many  a  true  pastor  knows, 
especially  after  troubles  have  come.  The  "  mourn- 
ing "  2  was  due  to  the  rebuke  sent  by  Titus.  As  a 
result  of  the  rebuke  and  the  sorrow  had  come 
"  zeal  "  ^  for  Paul  and  the  cause  that  Paul  stood  for. 
Paul  had  known  that  the  sharp  tone  of  the  Epistle 
would  wound  many  of  them.  It  had  cost  him  bitter 
tears  ^  to  write  it.  The  pang  of  those  sharp  words 
that  had  to  be  spoken  was  part  of  Paul's  misery. 
/  Indeed,  he  had  regretted  ^  that  he  had  written  it, 
after  it  was  gone  and  it  was  too  late.  But  Paul's 
sorrow  is  turned  into  joy.  "  I  now  rejoice,  not  that 
ye  were  made  sorry,  but  that  ye  were  made  sorry 
unto  repentance."  ^  The  sorrow  was  of  a  godly  ^ 
sort  since  it  bore  fruit  in  a  change  of  mind  and  life. 
Hence  Paul  had  really  done  them  no  harm.  So  Paul 
was  comforted  and  it  did  his  soul  good  to  see  "  the 
joy  of  Titus,^  because  his  spirit  hath  been  refreshed 

1  Present  participle,  possibly  repetition. 
2Cf.  Matt.  ii.  1 8. 

3  The  same  word  has  a  bad  sense  in  2  Cor.  xii.  20. 

4  2  Cor.  ii.  4.     He  wrote  with  "  tightness  of  heart." 
6  2  Cor.  vii.  8. 

6  2  Cor,  vii.  9.     Note  the  difference  between  "  sorrow  "  and  "  re- 
pentance." 

'  According  to  God's  standard.  8  2  Cor.  vii.  13. 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  35 

by  you  all."  The  word  for  "  refreshed  "  *  is  the  one 
used  by  Jesus  in  His  gracious  invitation  to  the  weary 
and  the  heavy-laden :  "  I  will  give  you  rest."  ^ 
Paul  joys  in  the  joy  of  Titus,  the  happiness  of  an  old 
preacher  in  a  young  preacher  who  has  accomplished 
a  most  difficult  and  dehcate  task.  Paul  had  not  in- 
deed wholly  given  the  cause  up  when  he  sent  Titus 
and  had  gloried  in  some  of  them  to  him.  He  is  glad 
now  that  his  words  are  more  than  justified.^  So 
then  Titus  is  in  a  tender  mood  towards  the  Corinthians 
and  Paul's  own  "  heart  is  enlarged "  towards  them. 
Indeed,  "  our  mouth  is  open  unto  you,  O  Cor- 
inthians." ^  "I  rejoice  that  in  everything  I  am  of 
good  courage  concerning  you."  ^  Heart  and  hope 
have  come  back  to  Paul  about  Corinth  and  so  about 
all  things.  The  word  for  "  courage "  is  the  same 
one  used  by  Luke  of  Paul  when  the  brethren  from 
Rome,  having  heard  of  Paul's  arrival,  came  to  meet 
the  party  "  as  far  as  The  Market  of  Appius  and  The 
Three  Taverns  ;  whom  when  Paul  saw,  he  thanked 
God,  and  took  courage."  ^  Few  things  are  sweeter 
in  life  than  human  fellowship.  The  preacher's  life 
is  peculiarly  rich  in  the  love  of  the  brethren.  This 
is  a  large  part  of  his  reward.  He  comes  close  to  the 
inner  hfe  of  a  man  and  rare  Christian  love  knits  heart 

1  Rest  again.  2  Matt,  ii,  28.  ^2  Cor.  vii,  14  f. 

*  2  Cor.  vii.  II.  5  2  Cor.  vii.  13.  ^  Acts  xxviii.  15. 


36      THE  DISHEARTENED  PREACHER'S  JOY 

to  heart.  For  the  moment  Paul  forgets  that  there 
is  a  stubborn  minority  left  in  the  Church  at  Corinth 
who  have  resisted  every  appeal  for  conciliation.  It 
was  only  the  majority  *  that  had  come  over  to  Paul 
and  his  view  of  things.  But  it  was  evidently  such 
a  strong  majority  that  the  Church  is  saved  from 
schism  and  the  obstinate  faction  can  be  handled. 
Paul  will  come  to  pay  his  respects  to  this  minority 
led  by  his  malignant  enemies,  the  Judaizers,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  Epistle.'*  It  is  this  double  aspect 
of  the  report  of  Titus  that  explains  the  twofold  char- 
acter of  the  Epistle.  But  we  are  not  here  concerned 
with  Paul's  treatment  of  this  pugnacious  element 
save  to  express  the  hope  that  they  came  over  to  his 
side  before  he  came  to  Corinth.  If  they  did  not, 
they  must  have  left,  for  Paul  is  master  of  the  situa- 
tion in  Acts  XX.  2  f.  Before  leaving  the  discussion 
of  Paul's  situation  in  Philippi,  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  Paul  was  happy  once  before  when  here,  even 
though  in  prison.^  The  Epistle  to  the  Philippians, 
which  he  will  write  from  Rome  some  years  hence,  is 
full  of  joy  and  commands  to  rejoice,  though  Paul  at 
that  time  will  again  be  a  prisoner.  But  he  is  now  no 
longer  a  prisoner  in  spirit.  He  is  free  as  a  bird  as 
he  shakes  off  the  depression  which  had  chained  his 
spirit  to  the  earth.  We  owe  this  matchless  discus- 
es Cor.  ii.  5  f.  22  Cor.  x-xiii.  'Acts  xvi.  25. 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  37 

sion  *  of  the  Christian  ministry  to  the  very  dejection 
of  heart  in  Paul.  The  rebound  was  as  high  as  the 
depression  had  been.  The  reaction  was  equal  to 
the  action.  This  digression,  as  already  noted,^  is 
really  quite  distinct  from  the  rest  of  the  Epistle.  It 
is,  for  all  intents  and  purposes,  a  separate  treatise  on 
the  glory  of  the  Christian  ministry.  The  brightness 
of  this  glory  shines  all  the  more  brilliantly  against 
the  black  cloud  of  doubt  and  disaster  which  im- 
mediately precedes  this  outburst  of  joy.  The 
troubles  in  Paul's  ministry  were  real,  not  merely 
imaginary.  He  was  a  manly  man,  if  ever  there  was 
one.  His  difficulties  are  real  still  after  he  meets 
Titus,  though  greatly  lessened.  He  has  a  new  Hght 
on  the  problems  at  Corinth.  That  light  flashes  back 
over  his  life  and  forth  into  the  future.  He  has  a 
new  sense  of  the  relative  values  of  things.  Now  he 
is  in  the  right  mood  to  estimate  his  own  ministerial 
life  and  that  of  others.  It  is  a  great  mistake  for  any 
preacher  to  reach  a  final  conclusion  in  his  moments 
of  despondency.  One  can  see  better  in  the  light 
than  in  the  dark.  The  light  will  come  if  one  press 
on  towards  it.  The  young  man  who  is  struggling 
with  the  sense  of  duty  that  calls  him  to  be  a  preacher 
of  the  Gospel  will  be  wise  if  he  gives  himself  a 
chance  to  get  this  high  view  of  the  ministry  as  set 
*  2  Cor.  ii.  i2-vi.  10.  *  See  beginning  of  this  section. 


38      THE  DISHEARTENED  PREACHER'S  JOY 

forth  by  Paul  in  his  moment  of  ecstasy.  The  highest 
is  the  truest  as  well  as  the  best.  The  temptation  is 
easy  to  settle  the  question  of  being  a  preacher  on 
the  dead-level  of  business,  expediency,  and  con- 
venience. I  do  not  believe  that  many  young  men 
will  be  led  into  the  ministry  by  mathematical  com- 
putations on  the  cost  of  living  and  the  salary  nor  on 
the  relations  of  modern  thought  to  the  Bible.  No 
real  "  Sky-pilot "  is  ever  found  with  that  calculating 
spirit.  It  is  the  spiritual  view  of  the  eternal  values 
as  seen  by  Paul  in  this  prophetic  passage  that  will 
win  and  hold  the  noblest  type  of  man  to  the  service 
of  Christ.  Nothing  else  will  really  get  its  grip  on 
him.  Get  into  close  grip  with  Christ,  if  He  is  tugging 
at  your  heart  to  put  you  into  the  ministry.  If  Christ 
puts  you  in,  you  will  stay  in  and  you  will  not  be 
sorry,  but  count  it  your  chief  glory  to  have  been 
counted  worthy  of  that  high  dignity.'  It  is  probably 
true  that  the  ministry  to-day  does  not  stand  as  high 
relatively  in  the  eyes  of  men  as  it  once  did.  This 
may  be  due  partly  to  the  presence  of  some  unworthy 
men  in  the  ministry.  There  v^^as  a  J^das  among  the 
apostles.  There  have  always  been  unworthy  men 
in  every  calling.  But  it  hurts  more  tn  ^he  ministry 
than  anywhere  else.  But,  after  all,  P&u\  does  not 
here  speak  of  the  appeal  that  the  ministry  makes  to 
*3Tim.  i.  12. 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  39 

the  world.  He  gives  God's  view  of  the  ministry. 
If  one  has  that,  nothing  else  really  matters.  "  Let  a 
man  so  account  of  us,  as  of  ministers  of  Christ,  and 
stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God.  .  .  .  But  with 
me  it  is  a  very  small  thing  that  I  should  be  judged 
of  you,  or  of  man's  judgment  .  .  .  He  that 
judgeth  me  is  the  Lord."  ^  So  Paul  is  going  to  sing 
a  paean  of  praise  for  the  ministry.  Hear  what  he 
has  to  say  of  the  appeal  that  this  noblest  of  earth's 
vocations  makes  to  him.  What  is  it  in  the  ministry 
that  gripped  and  held  a  man  so  gifted  as  Paul  ? 

5.  The  New  Interpretation  of  Paul's  Ministry 
He  has  a  new  standpoint.  The  sun  often  shines 
on  the  mountain  when  it  is  dark  in  the  valley. 
Paul  is  here  sheer  above  the  clouds.  He  can  see  far 
and  near,  up  and  down,  in  the  clear  empyrean.  The 
obstacles  that  seemed  so  large  in  his  path  have  now 
disappeared  wholly  from  view  or  have  assumed  their 
true  proportion  in  this  fresh  world-view.  Let  us 
stand  upon  the  mountain  with  Paul  and  catch  his  view 
of  the  worth  and  dignity  of  service  to  Christ.  Paul 
begins  with  the  interpretation  of  his  own  ministry  in 
view  of  the  new  light  and  outlook,  but  he  soon 
widens  his  horizon  to  include  the  ministry  as  a 
calling  and  he  treats  it  in  its  fundamental  and 
1 1  Cor.  iv.  1-4. 


40      THE  DISHEARTENED   PREACHER'S  JOY 

eternal  relations  in  a  way  to  cheer  every  preacher's 
heart. 

(a)  Triumph  After  All.  But  God's  triumph,  not 
Paul's.  Paul  is  Christ's  captive  in  God's  triumphal 
march  through  the  ages.  God  "  always  leadeth  us 
in  triumph  in  Christ."  '  There  is  no  doubt  as  to  the 
meaning  of  this  bold  image.  It  does  not  mean 
"  causeth  us  to  triumph  "  as  the  King  James'  Version 
has  it.  No  instance  of  this  sense  of  the  word  has 
been  found,  and  in  Col.  ii.  15  Paul  uses  it  of  Jesus 
"  triumphing  over  them  in  it,"  His  victory  on  the 
cross  over  the  principalities  and  powers.^  "  He  is 
the  captive  who  is  led  in  the  Conqueror's  train,  and  in 
whom  men  see  the  trophy  of  the  Conqueror's  power."  ^ 
It  is  the  splendid  image  of  a  Roman  triumphal  pro- 
cession, and,  though  Paul  had  not  seen  one,  he  had 
yet  heard  of  its  glories.^  Distinguished  captives  were 
sometimes  kept  at  Rome  for  years  in  order  to  grace 
the  conqueror's  procession  when  it  took  place.  Thus 
JuHus  Caesar  held  Vercingetorix,  the  famous  chief  in 
Gaul  who  came  near  plucking  victory  out  of  Caesar's 
hands,  a  prisoner  in  Rome  for  six  years  until  his 
great  triumph.     Then  he  had  him  slain.    So  Claudius  ^ 

1  2  Cor.  ii.  14. 

2  For  the   examples   in   Greek  literature  see  Bachmann,  2  Kor., 
S.  129. 

3  Denney,  "  Expositor's  Bible,"  2  Corinthians,  p.  87. 

4  Bernard,  "  Expositor's  Greek  Testament,"  in  loco, 
»  Denney,  p.  88. 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  4I 

triumphed  over  Caractacus.  Paul  may  have  had  this 
very  occasion  in  mind.  But  Paul's  case  is  not  quite 
parallel  to  that  of  Vercingetorix  or  Caractacus. 
**  When  God  wins  a  victory  over  man,  and  leads  His 
captive  in  triumph,  the  captive  too  has  an  interest  in 
what  happens ;  it  is  the  beginning  of  all  triumphs,  in 
any  true  sense,  for  him." '  Even  in  Paul's  tribula- 
tions and  disappointments  God  has  been  victorious. 
It  is  easier  to  see  the  hand  of  God  after  we  have 
passed  through  a  crisis.  Prof.  David  Smith,  D.  D., 
in  a  New  Year's  article  in  The  British  Weekly  ^  pic- 
tures a  captain  looking  one  morning  at  the  terrible 
crags  on  each  side  of  the  narrow  pass  through  which 
the  ship  had  passed  in  the  storm  at  night  into  the 
harbour.  "  Did  we — did  we  pass  through  in  the  dark- 
ness ?  "  he  falteringly  asked.  God  was  using  Paul  for 
His  glory  in  it  all.  Indeed,  he  dares  say  "  always  " 
now.  What  seemed  to  be  defeat  he  now  knows  is 
victory.  The  good  news  brought  by  Titus  has  thrown 
an  electric  flashlight  across  the  stormy  billows  and 
has  revealed  God  — 

"  Standeth  God  within  the  shadows 
Keeping  watch  above  His  own." 

The  sense  of  the  nearness  of  God  in  his  own  life  and 

ministry  is  the  overmastering  conviction  of  Paul.     He 

1  Denney,  p.  88.  *Dec.  29,  1910. 


42      THE  DISHEARTENED  PREACHER'S  JOY 

probably  means  to  include  Timothy '  and  Titus  ^  in 
the  "  us."  Indeed,  he  seems  to  have  a  vision  of  the 
whole  long  line  of  willing  captives  of  God  through 
the  ages,  past  and  present,  who  have  been  instruments 
in  pushing  on  the  work  of  the  kingdom.^  If  Paul  is 
able  to  find  joy  in  the  midst  of  his  misfortunes,  he  has 
pointed  the  way  for  every  preacher  of  Christ.  The 
secret  lies  in  looking  at  one's  life  from  God's  stand- 
point. But  this  is  only  possible  "  in  Christ."  "  Christ 
is  the  element  in  which  that  constant  triumph  of  God 
takes  place." ^  F.  W.  Robertson  is  right:  "  The  de- 
feat of  the  true-hearted  is  victory."  ^  It  is  the  joy  of 
full  surrender  to  Christ  that  Paul  here  feels.  He  has 
cut  loose  from  the  entanglement  of  things  of  sense 
and  has  swung  back  to  the  old  joy  in  Jesus. 

{b)  The  Incense  Bearer.  Plutarch  ^  says  that  at 
the  Roman  triumph  the  temples  were"  full  of  fumiga- 
tions." ^  "  Incense  was  burned  before  the  victor's 
chariot."^  The  transition  is  a  very  natural  one, 
therefore,  for  Paul.  He  now  thinks  of  himself,  and 
all  ministers  of  Christ,  as  incense  bearers  in  God's 
march  of  victory.     He  **  maketh  manifest  through  us 


^  2  Cor.  i.  I.  2  2  Cor.  ii.  13  ;  vii.  5  fF. 

8  Meyer,  2  Corinthians,  in  loco.  *  Ibid. 

6"  Life  and  Letters  and  Addresses,"  p.  618. 
''Aemil.  Paul.,  C.  32. 

' "  Incense  smoked  on  every  altar  as  the  victor  passed  through  the 
streets  of  Rome."     Denney,  in  loco. 
8  Gould,  American  Comm.,  in  loco. 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  43 

the  savour  of  His  knowledge  in  every  place."  The 
"  savour  "  and  the  "  knowledge  "  are  in  opposition.* 
The  knowledge  of  God  in  Christ  is  thus  diffused  like 
sweet  perfume  along  the  triumphal  way  of  God.  But 
the  wonder  of  it  is  that  the  fragrance  is  spread 
"  through  us."  This  is  due  to  no  merit  in  the  min- 
ister, but  to  the  fact  that  he  is  near  to  God  because  he 
is  in  the  procession  so  rich  in  the  grace  of  God.  But 
there  is  a  sense  of  humble  gratitude  on  Paul's  part 
as  he  contemplates  the  great  honour  thus  placed 
upon  him  and  other  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  that  of 
spreading  the  knowledge  of  God  along  the  way. 
Preaching  ^  is  the  thing  most  immediately  in  Paul's 
mind,  but  he  quickly  turns  the  image  round.  **  For 
we  are  a  sweet  savour  of  Christ  unto  God."  ^  He 
doubtless  means  that  the  incense  bearer  is  so  filled 
with  the  perfume  that  he  himself  is  perfume.  The 
preacher  is  so  filled  with  Christ^  that  he  exhales 
Christ.  The  figure  is  common  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment.^ The  life  of  the  true  minister  of  Christ  is 
thus  redolent  with  that  *•  odour  of  sanctity  "  which 
refreshes  the  heart.  But  "  the  lowliest  life  which  God 
is  really  leading  in  triumph  will  speak  infallibly  and 
persuasively  for  Him."  ^    This  is  true  of  every  follower 

*  Genitive  of  apposition. 

*  "  In  every  place,"  also  ;  at  Corinth  as  at  Ephesus. 

'2  Cor.  ii.  15.  •*  Meyer,  in  loco. 

•*  Cf.  Lev.  i.  9,  13,  etc.  ®  Denney,  in  loco. 


44      THE   DISHEARTENED   PREACHER'S  JOY 

of  Jesus  who  bears  witness  to  Christ  in  his  hfe.  It  is 
usually  true  that  men  are  responsive  to  the  pervasive 
influence  of  holy  living  and  clear  testimony  to  Jesus. 
But  it  is  not  always  true.  The  scribes  and  Pharisees 
found  fault  with  John  and  with  Jesus.  Paul  found 
it  impossible  to  please  all  men,  though  he  laboured 
to  be  "  all  things  to  all  men,  that  I  may  by  all  means 
save  some."  ^  It  had  recently  seemed  to  Paul  that 
he  was  misunderstood  on  every  hand.  He  now 
knows  better.  He  still  has  plenty  of  enemies  who 
are  only  too  glad  to  turn  any  slip  on  his  part  to  his 
hurt.  Paul  is  careful  "to  cut  off  occasion  from  them 
that  desire  an  occasion."  ^  As  I  write  these  words,  I 
am  concerned  about  the  complete  misapprehension 
of  the  conduct  of  one  of  the  noblest  of  ministers. 
One  brother  writes  me  that  it  is  enough  to  make  one 
lose  faith  in  the  ministry!  This  very  brother  who  so 
writes  is  largely  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  the 
minister  whom  he  so  severely  criticizes.  But  Paul 
has  one  supreme  consolation  that  is  open  to  us  all. 
It  is  found  in  the  words  "  unto  God."  It  is  a  joy  to 
God,  whatever  men  think,  when  a  life  manifests 
Christ.     That  life  is  redolent  to  God  of  Christ. 

(c)  The  Peril  of  Preaching.  The  joy  is  mixed 
with  sadness,  for  all  are  not  saved.  God  is,  however, 
glorified  "  in  them  that  are  saved,  and  in  them  that 

*  I  Cor.  ix,  22.  2  2  Cor.  xi.  12. 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  45 

perish ;  to  the  one  a  savour  from  death  unto  death ; 
to  the  other  a  savour  of  Hfe  unto  Hfe."  '     Paul  knew 
by  sad  experience  the  hardening  effect  of  preaching 
that  was  resisted.     Among  those  who  were  perishing  ^ 
right  before  his  eyes  Paul  and  his  ministry  seemed 
like  a  "  savour  from  death  unto  death."  ^     The  idiom 
is  a  bit  obscure,  but  is  like  "  from  faith  to  faith."  ^ 
This  odour  arises  from  death  and  causes  death.^     The 
rabbis  "  called  the  Law  an  aroma  vitcE  to  the  good, 
but  an  aroma  mortis  to  the  evil."  ^     The  figure  was 
thus  one  familiar  to  Paul  in  his  old  life.     It  is  a  sad 
thought  to  every  faithful  minister  to  know  that  men 
who  hear  his  message  will  be  hardened  in  sin  by  it 
because  they  reject  it.     But  that  is  the  inevitable 
penalty  of  human   freedom.      On   the  other  hand, 
there  is  a  bright  side  to  the  picture,  for  "  in  them  that 
are  saved  "  Paul  is  "  a  savour  from  hfe  unto  life."  ^ 
There  is  progress  out  of  life  into  more  life.     There 
is    no    joy   comparable   to   that   of  witnessing   the 
conversion  of  souls  under  one's  own  ministry.     This 
was  the  joy  of  Jesus «  and  it  is  possible  for  us  to  have 
it.     A  ministry  in  which  souls  are  not  saved  misses 
the  chief  joy  of  service.     It  is  small  wonder  that,  in 
view  of  the  solemn  responsibility  of  such  a  ministry, 

1  2  Cor  ii   15  f.  -  Present  participle  in  the  Greek. 

8  Here  not  "  sweet  odour."        ^  Rom.  i.  17  ;  cf.  2  Cor.  iii.  18. 
6  Meyer,  in  loco.  ^  Bernard,  in  loco. 

'  Present  participle  in  the  Greek.  « John  iv.  32. 


46      THE   DISHEARTENED   PREACHER'S  JOY 

Paul  asks  :  "  And  who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?  " 
The  Greek  order  is  even  more  emphatic :  "And  for 
these  things  who  is  sufficient  ?  "  He  has  sketched 
in  the  bold  contrast  of  hfe  and  death  "  these  things." 
The  word  "  sufficient  "  means  "  fit  "  or  "  quahfied." 
Many  a  preacher  has  felt  his  utter  inadequacy  to  meet 
such  a  situation.  He  has  arrived,  but  he  is  not  ready 
for  his  task.  The  stoutest  heart  may  well  sink  be- 
fore the  work  of  the  modern  minister.  It  is  diffi- 
cult enough  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  but  people 
make  all  sorts  of  unreasonable  demands  of  preachers. 
One  can  become  a  sort  of  packhorse  for  the  com- 
munity's burdens  and  difficulties.  The  question  of 
Paul  seems  rhetorical  and  to  call  for  the  answer  that 
no  one  is  sufficient  for  such  a  life  as  this  fraught  with 
such  awful  consequences  for  weal  or  woe.^  But  Paul 
often  surprises  us  by  the  bold  turn  of  his  thought. 

(d)  Paul's  Courage  in  Pre  aching.  He  dares  to 
say  that  he  is  "  sufficient  for  these  things  "  !  "  For 
we  are  not  as  the  many,  corrupting  the  Word  of 
God."  He  probably  has  in  mind  the  Judaizers  who 
did  corrupt  the  Word  of  God.  By  "  the  many  "  Paul 
does  not  mean  that  the  majority  were  like  the 
Judaizers.  They  were  many,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  but 
the  majority  held  with  Paul.  Paul  is  not  now  under 
the  juniper  tree.     He  does  not  feel  that  he  alone  is 

*  Bernard,  in  loco. 


THE  NEW  STANDPOINT  47 

loyal  to  Christ.  He  is  not  bringing  an  indictment 
against  the  ministers  of  Christ  as  a  class.  He  is  ex- 
posing the  hypocrites  who  had  crept  into  the  min- 
istry, as  they  still  do,  alas  !  The  word  for  "  corrupt- 
ing "  is  used  either  for  a  retailer  or  a  huckster.  It 
comes  to  mean  "  adulterate,"  for  the  temptation  was 
often  yielded  to  then  as  now,  to  put  the  best  apples 
on  top  of  the  barrel,  the  best  strawberries  on  top  of 
the  basket.  The  Judaizers  made  a  plausible  plea 
and  show.  Paul,  in  contrast,  grounds  his  confidence 
on  two  reasons.  One  is  his  sincerity.  His  berries 
are  as  good  at  the  bottom  as  at  the  top.  He  is  not 
afraid  to  face  men  with  the  gospel  message,  for  it  is 
sound  to  the  core.  He  is  not  afraid  that  something 
will  be  found  out  to  make  him  ashamed.  He 
preaches  a  whole  gospel  with  no  mental  reservations 
and  a  pure  gospel  with  no  flaws.  In  one  of  the 
visions  of  Ezekiel  (viii.  7-13)  there  is  a  vivid  picture 
of  the  betrayal  of  God  by  His  ministers.  Ezekiel 
saw  a  hole  in  the  wall  and  he  went  through  and 
found  a  door.  He  went  in  and  he  found  "  every  form 
of  creeping  things,  and  abominable  beasts,  and  all  the 
idols  of  the  house  of  Israel  portrayed  upon  the  wall 
round  about.  And  there  stood  before  them  seventy 
men  of  the  elders  of  the  house  of  Israel."  Then 
Jehovah  said  unto  Ezekiel :  "  Son  of  man,  hast  thou 
seen  what  the  elders  of  the  house  of  Israel  do  in  the 


48      THE  DISHEARTENED   PREACHER'S  JOY 

dark,  every  man  in  his  chambers  of  imagery?  for 
they  say,  Jehovah  seeth  us  not ;  Jehovah  hath  for- 
saken the  land."  Alas,  and  alas  !  The  other  reason 
of  Paul  is  that  he  bears  God's  commission.  He  did 
not  appoint  himself  to  this  task.  In  fact,  he  vi^as 
seized  in  spite  of  himself  and  turned  round  when  he 
was  doing  his  utmost  against  Christ.  *'  As  of  God, 
in  the  sight  of  God,  speak  we  in  Christ."  He  multi- 
plies words  and  turns  the  idea  over  like  a  diamond. 
He  looks  at  it  from  various  sides.  God  is  the  source 
of  his  authority.  He  speaks  with  the  eye  of  God  on 
him.  He  speaks  in  the  sphere  of  Christ.  He  never 
goes  beyond  Christ.  He  has  not  yet  exhausted  the 
riches  of  Christ.  It  is  just  "  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ "  that  forever  challenge  him.  «  He  can  never 
tell  that  news  often  enough.  He,  less  than  the  least 
of  the  saints,  is  not  worthy  to  bear  that  story  to  the 
Gentiles.  He  is  not  sufficient  of  himself  to  face  any 
one  with  this  message,  nor  is  any  one  sufficient  in 
himself.  *'  But  our  sufficiency  is  from  God ;  who 
also  made  us  sufficient  as  ministers  of  a  new  cove- 
nant; not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the  spirit."  God 
brought  Paul  and  the  rest  into  the  ministry  and 
equipped  them  for  the  service.  "  Such  confidence 
have  we  through  Christ  to  Godward."  It  is  not  self- 
complacency,  but  trust  in  God  that  fills  Paul  with 
holy  courage  to  face  a  hostile  and  unbelieving  world 


THE   NEW   STANDPOINT  49 

with  the  story  of  redemption  in  Christ  Jesus.  The 
Corinthians  ought  not  to  misunderstand  him.  He 
is  not  praising  himself.  He  needs  no  letter  of  in- 
troduction to  them  as  ApoUos  had,  for  instance, 
when  he  went  to  see  them,  or  as  the  Judaizers  may 
have  claimed  to  have.  His  work  in  Corinth  is  an 
open  letter  to  be  read  of  all  men.  A  letter  of  intro- 
duction is  after  all  a  very  cold  and  lifeless  thing.  It 
implies  that  one  is  a  stranger.  But  the  Corinthians, 
with  all  their  shortcomings,  are  written  in  Paul's 
very  heart.  The  pastor  who  reads  this  bears  witness 
to  the  truth  of  Paul's  words  as  he  calls  up  the  faces 
of  friends  tried  and  true  in  this  church  or  in  that 
who  have  been  bound  to  him  with  hooks  of  steel 
"  in  Christ." 


II 

THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED— THE 

MODERN  PROBLEM 

{2  Cor.  ill.  6-16) 

**  Moses,  who  put  a  veil  upon  his  face." 

— 2  Cor.  in.  ij. 


II 

THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED— THE  MODERN 
PROBLEM 

PAUL  is  reminded  of  the  ministry  of  Moses  as 
representative  of  the  Old  Covenant,  probably 
because  of  the  activity  of  the  Judaizers  in 
Corinth  who  claimed  to  be  the  exponents  of 
Mosaism.  It  is  thus  an  indirect  polemic  against  the 
Jewish  propagandists.'  But  it  is  more  than  mere  alle- 
gorizing,^  a  method  that  Paul  knew  how  to  use  on  oc- 
casion.^ But,  in  the  present  instance,  Paul  keeps  close 
to  the  historical  situation  in  Exodus  xxiv.-xxxiv.  and 
draws  a  wonderful  parallel  in  the  Judaism  of  his  day. 
The  whole  system  of  Judaism  is  set  in  the  boldest 
contrast  to  the  ideal  ministry  of  the  New  Covenant. 
This  passage  is  worthy  of  the  closest  study  by  the 
preacher  of  to-day  whose  vision  of  the  spiritual  min- 
istry is  beclouded  by  sacerdotalism  and  cere- 
monialism. It  is  pathetic  to  think  that,  in  spite  of 
Paul's  bold  and  unanswerable  exposure  of  the  weak- 
ness of  a  mere  sacerdotal  ecclesiasticism,  to-day  in 
the  Greek  and  Roman  Churches  are  to  be  found  just 

1  Meyer,  in  loco,  foot-note.  2  Bernard,  in  loco, 

3  I  Cor.  X,  2 ;  Gal.  iv.  25. 

53 


54        THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

the  Jewish  conception  of  the  ministry  which  Paul 
is  condemning.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  also  that  the 
wide-spread  influence  of  these  two  great  Churches  has 
in  large  measure  shaped  popular  opinion  of  the  min- 
ister as  priest  and  cleric  rather  than  as  prophet,  herald, 
servant,  teacher,  pastor.  The  downfall,  the  inevitable 
downfall,  of  this  Jewish  conception  has  brought  un- 
told harm  to  the  ministry  per  se.  It  is  not  easy  for 
people  to  distinguish.  The  pinnacle  upon  which 
Paul  places  the  preacher  is  not  one  of  officialism  in 
any  sense.  He  is  the  man  of  high  spiritual  preroga- 
tive and  privilege,  not  the  man  of  ecclesiastical 
station.  He  is  the  man  who  looks  in  the  face  of 
God  and  comes  to  talk  with  the  people  as  prophet, 
not  as  priest  nor  ecclesiastic.  The  problem  before 
Paul  is  intensely  modern  in  many  of  its  phases.  The 
ministry  to-day  has  lost  its  glory  for  many  people. 
There  was  once  a  halo  about  the  calling  of  the  min- 
ister which  to  some  is  now  lost.  It  was  once  the 
dearest  hope  in  every  Scottish  home,  as  in  many 
others  all  over  the  world,  that  the  boy  would  become 
a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.  Ian  Maclaren  has  told 
with  tender  pathos  how  the  cold  blast  of  modern 
criticism  has  smitten  this  fair  flower  of  faith  in 
Bonnie  Scotland.*  Numerous  modern  novels  seek 
to  justify  the  modern  denial  of  Jesus  in  its  appeal  to 

1 «  Beside  the  Bonnie  Briar  Bush." 


THE  MODERN   PROBLEM  55 

the  youth  of  to-day/  Paul  graphically  seizes  upon 
the  picture  of  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai  and  uses  it 
with  powerful  effect. 

I.     A  Real  Glory 
Paul  does  not  at  all  mean  to  deny  the  fact  of  the 
glory  that  belonged  to  Moses.     The  coming  of  the 
law  was  with  glory  ^     Indeed,  the  ministry  of  the 
Old  Covenant  was  glory .^     "  The  glory  of  Jehovah 
abode  upon  Mount  Sinai,  and  the  cloud  covered  it 
six  days ;  and  the  seventh  day  He  called  unto  Moses 
out  of  the  midst  of  the  cloud."  ^     These  forty  days 
and  forty  nights  of  communion  with  God  left  a  mark 
of  external   radiance   on  the  face  of  Moses.     The 
divine  glory  was  on  the  face  of  Moses.     It  is  told 
with    wonderful    simplicity    and    power.     "And   it 
came  to  pass,  when  Moses  came  down  from  Mount 
Sinai  with  the  two  tables  of  the  testimony  in  Moses' 
hand,  when   he  came  down  from  the  mount,  that 
Moses  knew  not  that  the  skin  of  his  face  shone  by 
reason  of  his  speaking  with  Him."^     The  charm  Hes 
in   the   unconsciousness   of  Moses.     The   "God  of 
glory  "«  had  appeared  unto  Abraham  as  He  did  to 
Stephen  whose  face  shone  like  that  of  an  angeF  as 
he  began  to  speak.     It  has  sometimes  happened  that 

.  Cf.  "  Robert  Elsmere."  »  2  Cor.  iii.  7-  '  ^  Cor.  iii.  9- 

c  Acts  vii.  2 ;  Gen.  xii.  I.  '  Acts  vi.  15  J  vii.  i  f. 


56  THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

the  modern  minister  comes  to  the  pulpit  from  the 
throne  of  grace  with  the  glory  of  God  on  his  face. 
He  is  himself  all  unconscious  of  his  heavenly  radi- 
ance as  he  breaks  the  bread  of  life  to  the  people. 
But  they  know  it  and  thank  God  for  the  testimony 
in  their  hearts.  "  And  when  Aaron  and  all  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  saw  Moses,  behold,  the  skin  of  his  face 
shone ;  and  they  were  afraid  to  come  nigh  him."  * 
They  felt  a  solemn  awe  in  his  presence.  They  felt 
in  truth  the  other  Presence,  the  Presence  of  God  in 
manifest  power  and  glory.  The  rabbis  had  a  fiction 
that  this  glory  was  from  the  hght  of  creation,^  but 
that  is  mere  trifling.  It  was  the  ineffable  glory  in 
which  Jehovah  dwells  that  filled  the  countenance  of 
Moses.  It  is  the  highest  crown  of  the  minister  that 
he  is  called  so  often  into  the  closest  fellowship  with 
the  Eternal  God.  There  is,  of  course,  no  special 
ministerial  approach  to  the  Throne  of  God,  but  his 
very  work  of  itself  draws  him  to  communion  with 
God.  A  preacher  may  not  live  up  to  his  rich  privi- 
lege, but  it  is  there  for  him.  There  is  no  way  to  put 
on  this  radiant  glory,  no  way  but  the  "  Practice  of 
the  Presence  of  God."  Moses  had  actually  been 
with  God.  He  had  to  call  Aaron  and  the  rest  to 
his  side  and  they  gradually  drew  nigh  and  listened 

^  Ex.  xxxiv.  30. 

» Meyer,  in  loco ;  Eisenmenger,  Entdeckt.  Judenth.,  I.,  S.  369  f. 


THE   MODERN   PROBLEM  57 

to  his  message  from  God.^     It  is  a  moment  of  un- 
speakable  responsibility  when  a  man's  soul  is  ablaze 
with  the   Word  of  God  and  his   audience  are  -  in 
tune  with  the  infinite."     Then  the  deepest  mark  is 
made  upon  the  soul.     There  are  mountain  peaks  in 
the   experience   of  most  men  when  the  tongue  is 
touched  by  the  coal  from  the  altar  of  God.-     Then 
one  is  able  to  -cry"   with  power.^     It  is  at  such 
supreme  moments  that  souls  are  born  into  the  king- 
dom, that  men  are  called  into  the  ministry.     John 
A.  Broadus  had  expected  to  be  a  physician  and  was 
studying   towards    that   end,   but  he  heard  A.    M. 
Poindexter  preach  one  day  on  the  -  Parable  of  the 
Talents,"  and  he  could  never  get  away  from  that 
sermon.     It  sent  him  into  the  ministry.^     It  may  be 
questioned  if  Dr.  Poindexter  ever  performed  a  more 
useful  service  in  his  life  than  the  preaching  of  this 
sermon.     There  is  still  glory  and  power  in  the  min- 
istry under  God.     One  way  to  enlist  more  men  in 
the  work  of  the  ministry  is  to  pray  for  more  labourers 
as  Jesus  commanded.^     Another  way  is  to  live  close 
to  God  and  preach  with  the  power  and  demonstra- 
tion of  the  Spirit.     Paul  gathered  many  young  min- 
isters about  him,  like  Timothy  and  Titus,  who  were 
a  joy  to  his  heart.     But  the  man  wins  more  men  to 

1  Ex   xxxiv    M  f  '  Isa.  vi.  6  ff.  ^  Isa.  xl.  6. 

4  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters  of  John  A.  Broadus,"  p.  52  f- 
6  Matt.  ix.  38  ;  Luke  x.  2. 


58        THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

the  ministry  who  is  unconscious  of  any  special  halo 
on  his  own  head.  He  sees  only  the  face  of  Jesus  his 
Lord.  Syria  was  once  "  the  Cradle  of  the  Prophets."  * 
That  is  no  longer  the  case,  but  it  is  an  honour  to  a 
church  or  a  land  to  be  a  "  hot-bed  for  preachers." 

2.  A  Hidden  Glory 
"  And  when  Moses  had  done  speaking  with  them 
he  put  a  veil  on  his  face."  ^  Paul  interprets  it  thus  : 
"  so  that  the  children  of  Israel  could  not  look  stead- 
fastly upon  the  face  of  Moses  for  the  glory  of  his 
face."  ^  They  felt  as  if  they  were  looking  right  at  the 
sun  and  they  could  not  stand  the  brilliant  light.  In- 
deed, the  sun  will  put  out  the  eyes  of  those  who  dare 
to  gaze  directly  at  his  light  for  long.  We  resort  to 
smoked  glasses  or  take  advantage  of  an  eclipse  to 
look  steadfastly  in  the  face  of  the  sun.  So  Moses 
took  the  veil  off  only  when  he  went  in  to  speak  with 
the  Lord  and  put  it  on  when  he  came  out  to  speak 
with  the  people.^  There  was  a  great  gulf  between 
the  people  and  Moses.  "  Judaism  had  the  one  law- 
giver who  beheld  God  while  the  people  tarried  below. 
Christianity  leads  us  all  to  the  mount  of  vision,  and 
lets  the  lowliest  pass  through  the  fences,  and  go  up 
where  the  blazing  glory  is  seen.     Moses  veiled  the 

*  The  Inter  collegian  f  Jan.,  1911,  p.  86.  2  Ex.  xxxiv.  33. 

'  2  Cor,  iii.  7.  4  Ex.  xxxiv.  34  f. 


THE  MODERN  PROBLEM  59 

face  that  shone  with  the  irradiation  of  Deity.  We 
with  unveiled  face  are  to  shine  among  men."  *  Mac- 
laren^  is  right  also  in  saying  that  Paul's  habit  of 
"  going  off  at  a  word,"  as  illustrated  in  this  passage 
about  Moses  and  the  veil,  is  not  a  mark  of  confusion, 
but  '*  of  the  fervid  richness  of  the  apostle's  mind, 
which  acquires  force  by  motion,  and,  like  a  chariot- 
wheel,  catches  fire  as  it  revolves."  So,  he  continues, 
in  this  scene  on  the  mount, "  we  have  a  picture  of  the 
Old  Dispensation — a  partial  revelation,  gleaming 
through  a  veil,  flashing  through  symbols,  expressed 
here  in  a  rite,  there  in  a  type,  there  again  in  an  ob- 
scure prophecy,  but  never  or  scarcely  ever  fronting 
the  world  with  an  unveiled  face  and  the  light  of  God 
shining  clear  from  it.  Christianity  is,  and  Christian 
teachers  ought  to  be,  the  opposite  of  all  this.  It  has, 
and  they  are  to  have,  no  esoteric  doctrines,  no  hints 
where  plain  speech  is  possible,  no  reserve,  no  use  of 
symbols  and  ceremonies  to  overlay  truth,  but  an  in- 
telligible revelation  in  words  and  deeds,  to  men's 
understandings.  It  and  they  are  plentifully  to  de- 
clare the  thing  as  it  is."  Paul  means  to  cast  no 
reproach  upon  Moses  or  the  Old  Covenant  by  this 
contrast.  The  people  simply  could  not  stand  the 
fullness  of  light  which  Moses  had.     Even  if  it  was 


*  Maclaren,  "  Expositions  of  Holy  Scripture,"  2  Corinthians,  in  loco, 
^Ibid. 


60  THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

merely  the  skin  of  his  face  that  shone  with  external 
glory,  it  was  too  bright  for  their  eyes  since  they  did 
not  enjoy  the  inner  light  of  Christianity.  The 
charge  is  sometimes  made  to-day  against  the  min- 
istry that  it  is  the  profession  of  obscurantists.  Either 
modern  ministers  are  dishonest  in  not  being  true  to 
what  they  know  and  pander  to  the  ignorance  of  the 
people  or  they  have  closed  their  minds  to  all  light 
and  progress.  Both  of  these  charges  are  freely  made 
in  some  quarters  and  occasionally  some  colour  is 
given  to  it  by  a  minister  whose  defection  is  made  a 
newspaper  sensation.  Notoriety  always  comes  to 
the  preacher  who  betrays  his  Lord  or  his  gospel. 
As  a  result  some  young  men  are  made  to  beheve 
that  the  ministry  is  an  unworthy  calling  for  a  free 
man  who  does  not  wish  to  wear  shackles.  Hear  Lord 
Morley,  for  instance,  in  his  famous  essay  on  Compro- 
mise :  "  These  cases  only  show  the  essential  and 
profound  immorality  of  the  priestly  profession,  which 
makes  a  man's  living  depend  on  his  abstaining  from 
using  his  mind,  or  concealing  the  conclusions  to 
which  the  use  of  his  mind  has  brought  him.  The 
time  will  come  when  society  will  look  back  on  the 
doctrine  that  they  that  serve  the  altar  shall  live  by 
the  altar  as  a  doctrine  of  barbarism  and  degradation." 
Lord  Morley  is  an  outspoken  free-thinker  and  ag- 
nostic, and  his  indictment  of  the  ministry  can  thus 


THE  MODERN   PROBLEM  6l 

be  discounted.  But  the  matter  is  taken  very  seri- 
ously by  Rev.  Canon  Danks/  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, who  calls  them  "words  of  very  serious  import  to 
men  who  have  entered  or  who  wish  to  enter  the  min- 
istry." He  says :  "  They  express  the  thought  which, 
more  than  any  other  cause,  deters  able  candidates 
for  ordination.  Nor  has  their  force  been  lessened 
by  the  lapse  of  time,  for  the  gap  between  the  critics 
and  the  popular  theology  is  wider  now  than  thirty- 
five  years  ago.  .  .  .  There  is  a  greater  gulf  be- 
tween the  theological  student  and  the  untaught 
believer  or  unbeliever  than  ever  before."  It  is  evi- 
dent that  such  a  situation  exists  in  many  quarters 
and  the  wide-spread  decrease  in  the  number  of  stu- 
dents for  the  ministry,  once  so  serious  and  now 
happily  disappearing,  may  be  partly  due  to  this 
cause.  Dr.  Danks  has  probably  somewhat  exag- 
gerated its  influence,  but  it  is  a  real  problem.  He 
replies  in  behalf  of  the  Church  of  England  :  "  Were 
Hooker  and  Butler  emissaries  of  intellectual  dark- 
ness, slaves  themselves  and  enslaving  others  ?  Were 
Thirlwall,  Lightfoot,  Westcott,  Creighton,  Robert- 
son of  Brighton,  Maurice,  Kingsley,  Stanley,  Jowett 
— were  all  these  obscurantists,  stunting  the  mental 
growth  of  their  time  ?     On  the  contrary,  they  were 


1  Article,   "  The   Clergy,   Conscience,  and    Free   Inquiry,"    The 
Hibbert  Journal^  Jan.,  191 1. 


62  THE  GLORY   THAT  FADED 

among  the  most  alert,  profound,  and  free  intelli- 
gences of  their  time,  teaching  and  emancipating 
their  own  and  succeeding  generations.  Nor  is  there, 
so  far  as  I  know,  any  reason  to  suppose  that  they  were 
in  the  least  conscious  of  thinking  in  fetters,  or  acting 
a  part."  This  is  a  pertinent  reply.  Indeed,  the  fault 
found  to-day  with  many  men  in  the  ministry  is  not 
that  they  are  "  hidebound  reactionaries,"  but  that 
they  are  entirely  too  advanced  and  radical.  But 
their  very  presence  and  work  constitute  an  answer 
to  Lord  IMorley's  charge.  Moses  was  at  first  uncon- 
scious of  the  glory  on  his  face,  but  the  conduct  of 
the  people  made  him  aware  of  the  radiance.  It  was 
not  acting  a  part  to  hide  his  face  with  the  veil.  He 
delivered  his  message  with  covered  face.  It  is  no 
deception  for  the  minister  to-day  to  keep  his  inmost 
self  to  himself.  He  does  not  claim  omniscience.  If 
new  light  is  coming,  more  may  come.  Modesty  is 
becoming  to  the  herald  of  the  Cross.  He  is  not 
called  upon  to  parade  his  doubts  nor  all  the  hidden 
ecstasies  of  his  life  with  God.  He  must  be  wiUing  to 
wait  and  learn  like  other  men.  One  should  preach 
his  beliefs,  not  his  doubts.  But,  when  a  real  breach 
has  come  between  him  and  Christ,  he  is  not  called 
upon  to  act  the  hypocrite  and  to  go  on  mumbling 
phrases  and  words  that  have  no  meaning  to  him. 
The  door  is  still  open  for  him  to  go  out  of  the  minis- 


THE  MODERN   PROBLEM  63 

try  of  Christ  when  there  is  no  freedom  within  it. 
He  must  be  his  own  judge  when  to  keep  still  on  less 
important  matters  and  when  to  speak  his  mind  on 
vital  issues.  But  there  is  never  reason  for  whimper- 
ings on  the  limitations  of  the  ministry ;  never,  unless 
one  is  in  the  grip  of  a  priestly  hierarchy.  Then, 
much  of  what  Lord  Morley  says  is  true.  There  is 
to-day  a  movement  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
called  "  Modernism."  It  has  aroused  the  wrath  of 
Pope  Pius  X  to  such  an  extent  that  he  has  turned 
the  whole  power  of  the  Vatican  to  its  destruction.' 
The  outcome  no  one  can  tell,  but  "  what  we  can  fore- 
see is  this,  that  it  will  be  one  of  the  most  momentous 
crises  recorded  in  history."  ^  it  is  chiefly  because 
Romanism  has  sought  to  put  clamps  upon  the 
human  spirit,  as  the  later  Judaism  of  Paul's  day  did, 
that  this  crisis  has  come.  Protestantism  stands  out 
against  medieval  Romanism  as  Paul's  interpretation 
of  a  free  Christianity  rises  above  the  fettered  Judaism 
of  his  time  which  he  once  proclaimed  and  sought  to 
force  upon  the  Christians  themselves.  A  group  of 
Roman   CathoHc  priests  in  Italy  have  addressed  a 


1  He  has  issued  a  Syllabus,  two  Encyclicals  (1907,  1909),  and 
in  September,  19 10,  used  the  Motu  propria  to  compel  every  pro- 
fessor, every  new  confessor,  priest,  and  canon  to  take  the  oath  of 
orthodoxy. 

2  Prof,  Giovanni  Luzzi,  D.  D.,  Florence,  in  the  January,  191 1, 
Hibbert  Journal,  article,  "  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Italy  at 
the  Present  Hour." 


64        1HE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

letter  to  Pius  X  entitled  "  What  zue  zvaiit,"  *  in  which 
they  say :  "  Our  society  has  now  for  many  years 
held  entirely  aloof  from  the  Church,  which  it  con- 
siders as  an  ancient  and  inexorable  foe.  .  .  . 
The  Church  is  considered  an  obstacle  to  the  happi- 
ness of  nations ;  the  priest  is  insulted  in  public  as  a 
common,  ignorant  parasite;  the  Gospel  and  Chris- 
tianity are  regarded  as  expressions  of  a  decayed 
civilization,  because  they  are  entirely  insufficient  to 
answer  to  the  ideals  of  freedom,  justice,  and  science 
which  are  shaking  the  masses."  This  portrayal  does 
not  come  from  Lord  Morley,  but  is  the  despairing 
cry  of  Roman  Catholic  priests  about  Romanism. 
The  trouble  is  just  here  that  men  do  not  always  dis- 
tinguish between  priest  and  preacher.  Paul  is  not 
in  his  noble  panegyric  on  the  ministry  calling  men 
to  the  decayed  Judaism  nor  to  the  corrupt  and  cor- 
rupting Romanism  of  the  future,  but  to  the  glorious 
Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  which  is  not  bound.^ 
Men  could  bind  Paul,  but  not  the  gospel  of  the 
kingdom.  He  was  bound  in  the  spirit  with  allegiance 
to  Christ,  but  had  no  fear  of  man.^  Jesus  had  said 
that  the  truth  would  make  men  free.  It  was  God's 
purpose  to  give  the  world  a  message  which  would  be 


1  Quel  che  vogliano.     Quoted  by  Professor  Luzzi  in  the  Hibbert 
Journal  article. 
»  2  Tim.  ii.  9.  »  Acts  xx.  23. 


THE   MODERN   PROBLEM  65 

delivered  boldly  and  openly  without  any  veil  upon 
the  face.  "  Having  therefore  such  a  hope,  we  use 
great  boldness  of  speech,  and  are  not  as  Moses,  who 
put  a  veil  upon  his  face."  ^  The  word  "  boldness  " 
means  **  telling  it  all."  ^  Paul  glories  in  his  freedom 
as  a  minister  of  Christ.  God  has  come  in  Christ  and 
the  Light  has  been  tempered  to  the  eye  of  man. 

3.  A  Temporary  Glory 
Paul  expressly  calls  attention  to  the  transient 
aspect  of  the  glory  on  the  face  of  Moses  as  a  symbol 
of  the  passing  glory  of  the  Mosaic  ministry  and  so 
of  Judaism — "  Moses,  who  put  a  veil  upon  his  face, 
that  the  children  of  Israel  should  not  look  steadfastly 
on  the  end  of  that  which  was  passing  away."^  So  in 
verse  seven  he  says :  '*  Which  glory  was  passing 
away."  Meyer  ^  takes  Paul's  language  to  mean  that 
Moses  practiced  "  dissembling  "  with  the  people  since 
he  did  not  wish  the  people  to  see  the  glory  on  his 
face  die  away,  else  they  would  lose  respect  for  him 
and  his  work.  However,  he  does  not  think  that 
Paul  regarded  this  act  as  immoral  on  the  part  of 
Moses.  Paul  is  not  in  verse  thirteen  denying  what 
he  said  in  verse  seven  about  the  hght  being  too  bril- 


I2  Cor.  iii.  12. 

'Cf.  John  vii.  13  where  it  is  translated  "  openly." 

®  2  Cor.  iii.  13.  *  /«  loco^ 


66        THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

liant  for  the  people  to  look  upon.*  The  language  in 
verse  thirteen  undoubtedly  presents  a  purpose  to 
prevent  the  people  of  Israel  from  seeing  the  de- 
parture of  the  glory  on  the  countenance  of  Moses.^ 
Some  have  even  supposed  that  Christ  is  meant  by 
"  the  end  of  that  which  was  passing  away."  ^  But 
that  is  quite  beside  the  mark.  There  is  no  direct 
statement  in  Exodus  concerning  this  second  point 
made  by  Paul,  though  the  transient  nature  of  the 
glory  on  the  face  of  Moses  is  plain  in  the  context. 
It  is  clear  in  the  consciousness  of  Moses  since  he 
kept^  putting  the  veil  on  and  off.  But  one  is  going 
far  beyond  Paul's  remarks  on  the  story  in  Exodus  to 
accuse  Moses  of  dissembling.  He  probably  first  put 
the  veil  on  because  the  brightness  he  found  "  was  so 
resplendent  as  to  dazzle  the  beholders."^  Then  he 
realized  that,  when  he  did  speak  to  the  people  with- 
out the  veil,  the  people  would  note  that  the  glory 
was  no  longer  on  his  countenance.  How  long  he 
kept  up  that  plan  is  not  made  plain,  but  the  day  came, 
probably  soon,  when  he  had  to  speak  without  the 


1  Bernard,  in  loco,  notes  that  in  Ex.  xxxiv.  33  "  till  "  in  the 
Authorized  Version  has  been  changed  to  "  when  "  in  the  Revised 
Version.  But,  even  so,  that  does  not  affect  the  two  points  made  by 
Paul. 

2  "  That "  is  design,  not  result. 

8  Cf.  Rom.  X.  4.  *  2  Cor.  iii,  13. 

5  Denny,  2  Corinthians,  in  loco.  For  a  discussion  of  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  Targums,  the  Septuagint,  and  Philo,  see  Bachmann, 
Der  Zweite  Brief  des  Faulus  an  die  Korinther,  S.  156 


THE  MODERN   PROBLEM  67 

veil.  What  Moses  avoided  was  the  people  seeing 
the  glory  slowly  vanish  away  each  time.  There  is  a 
real  parallel  here  in  the  experience  of  every  minister 
when  he  has  spoken  with  power  concerning  the 
things  of  God.  In  the  pulpit  he  has  seemed  like  one 
inspired.  When  he  steps  down  among  the  people, 
there  is  need  of  caution  lest  a  violent  nervous  re- 
action may  dissipate  at  once  the  real  spiritual  im- 
pression produced.  A  story  is  told  about  a  famous 
preacher  to  the  effect  that,  when  he  was  in  the  pulpit, 
the  church  wished  he  would  never  leave  it ;  but, 
when  he  was  out  of  it,  they  wished  that  he  would 
never  enter  it.  The  only  way  to  have  permanent 
glory  is  to  continue  beholding  the  glory  of  the  Lord. 
If  we  cease  looking  at  Him,  we  cease  to  reflect  His 
glory.  Moses  may  not  have  thought  at  all  (almost 
certainly  did  not)  of  his  conduct  being  a  type  of  the 
temporary  nature  of  his  ministry,  nor  was  he  think- 
ing of  the  difference  between  what  he  was  and  what 
he  had  to  teach.'  A  preacher  is  often  tempted  to 
hide  his  own  person  and  weaknesses  out  of  sight  in 
order  to  concentrate  attention  on  what  he  is  saying. 
To  a  certain  extent  this  is  justifiable,  but  people  will 
not  allow  a  clear  divorce  between  preaching  and 
practice  on  the  part  of  the  minister.  "  Moses  had  a 
momentary  gleam,  a  transient  brightness  ;  we  have  a 

^  Cf.  Meyer,  in  loco. 


68        THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

perpetual  light.  Moses'  face  shone,  but  the  lustre 
was  but  skin  deep.  But  the  light  that  we  have  is 
inward,  and  works  transformation  into  its  own  like- 
ness." *  There  is  a  finality  in  the  revelation  of  the 
Gospel  which  is  not  true  of  Judaism.  "  The  true 
greatness  of  God  is  revealed,  and  with  it  His  true 
glory,  once  for  all,  in  the  Gospel."  ^  Paul  exults  in 
this  surpassing  difference  :  **  For  if  that  which  passeth 
away  was  with  glory,  much  more  that  which  re- 
maineth  is  in  glory."  ^  Paul  boldly  champions  the 
permanence  of  the  glory  and  service  in  Christ.  The 
New  Testament  ministry  will  continue  because  there 
is  no  higher  word  for  the  redemption  of  man  than 
the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Jesus  is  the  fullness  of  God's 
message  to  man.  We  shall  continue  to  get  new  light 
on  that  message,  but  shall  never  get  beyond  it.^  The 
demand  for  ministers  of  the  Gospel  to-day  is  just  the 
same  as  it  was  in  the  first  century.  Nor  has  preach- 
ing lost  its  power  over  the  hearts  of  men.  That  is  a 
cry  that  comes  in  each  generation.  Human  life 
takes  on  new  phases.  The  printing  press  brings  the 
newspaper,  the  magazine,  and  the  novel.  The  tele- 
phone, the  automobile,  the  electric  car  revolution- 
ize the  habits  of  men.     But  no  printed  page  can  per- 

^  Maclaren,  «  Expositions  of  Holy  Scripture,"  in  loco. 
'  Denney,  in  loco.  3  2  Cor.  iii.  II. 

*  Works  like  G.  B.  Foster's  "  Finality  of  the  Christian  Religion 
are  mere  passing  leaves. 


THE  MODERN   PROBLEM  69 

manently  supply  the  place  of  the  man  who  has 
looked  into  the  face  of  God  and  now  looks  into  the 
face  of  sinful  men  and  presses  home  with  burning 
words  the  sense  of  sin  and  the  redemption  in  Jesus 
Christ.  The  minister  who  does  this  has  a  great 
hearing  to-day  and  will  always  be  greeted  by  glad 
hearts.  This  is  the  eternal  call  for  preachers,  the 
heart-hunger^  of  sinful  men  for  the  knowledge  of 
God  in  Christ,  for  the  unveihng  of  their  real  selves, 
for  the  touch  of  heart  upon  heart,  for  the  mighty 
moving  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  greatest  spirits  of 
all  time  have  responded  to  this  call  of  God  and  will 
continue  to  do  so.  A  Protestant  scholasticism,^  a 
Roman  Catholic  hierarchy,  a  Jewish  scribism  may 
lose  the  gift  of  spiritual  insight,  of  human  sympathy, 
of  power  to  speak  for  God.  But  even  so  God  is  not 
bound  to  this  system  or  to  that.  He  will  find  men 
who  can  hear  His  voice  and  see  His  face.^ 

4.     A71  Overshadowed  Glory 

The  glory  on  the  face  of  Moses  passed  away,  but 

there  was  a  real  glory  in  the  Old  Covenant.     There 

was  and  there  still  is.     It  is  an  argument  at  first  from 

the  less  to  the  greater.     "  If  the  ministration  of  death 

»  Cf.  Stalker,  «  The  Preacher  and  His  Models,"  p,  25  f. 

'  Denney,  in  loco. 

3  Commenting  on  the  coming  of  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Jowett  from 
Birmingham  to  New  York,  The  British  Weekly,  Jan.  26,  1 891, 
speaks  of  "  The  Call  for  Preachers  "  and  quotes  from  a  saying  of 


70        THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

.  .  .  came  with  glory,  how  shall  not  rather  the 
ministration  of  the  spirit  be  with  glory  ? " '  The 
condition  admits  the  glory  of  the  Old  Dispensation 
and  by  a  rhetorical  question  argues  the  greater  glory 
of  the  New  Dispensation.  "  For  if  the  ministration 
of  condemnation  hath  glory,  much  rather  doth  the 
ministration  of  righteousness  exceed  in  glory."  *  Paul 
admits  the  glory  of  the  Old,  but  claims  the  much 
richer  glory  of  the  New.  In  itself  this  is  no  dis- 
paragement of  the  true  Judaism.  "  For  if  that  which 
passeth  away  was  with  glory,  much  more  that  which 
remaineth  is  in  glory."  ^  Three  times  Paul  has  thus 
used  the  argument  from  the  less  to  the  greater.  It 
is  a  self-evident  proposition.  But,  in  truth,  there  is 
such  an  overplus  ^  of  glory  in  the  New  Covenant  that 
the  glory  of  the  Old  seems  to  disappear  entirely ;  the 
greater  glory  dims  the  less.  "  For  verily  that  which 
hath  been  made  glorious  hath  not  been  made  glorious 
in  this  respect,  by  reason  of  the  glory  that  surpass- 
eth."  ^  In  one  point  at  least  the  old  seems  to  have  no 
glory  at  all,  because  of  the  superabundant  glory  of 
the  New  Covenant.^     "  The  veiled  Moses  represents 


Martin  Luther  in  Dr.  Kawerau's  tribute  to  Spurgeon :  *'  In  the 
Church  it  is  not  enough  that  books  should  be  written  and  read,  but 
it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  speaking  and  hearing.  There- 
fore Christ  wrote  nothing,  but  spoke  everything.  The  apostles 
wrote  little,  but  spoke  a  great  deal." 

^  2  Cor.  iii.  7  f .  ^  2  Cor.  iii.  9.  »  2  Cor.  iii.  il. 

*  2  Cor.  iii.  9.  62  Cor.  iii.  10.  ^  2  Cor.  iii.  10. 


THE   MODERN   PROBLEM  7 1 

the  clouded  revelation  of  old.  The  vanishing  gleam 
on  his  face  recalls  the  fading  glories  of  that  which  was 
abolished."  *  "  The  stars  are  bright  till  the  moon 
rises;  the  moon  herself  reigns  in  heaven  till  her 
splendour  pales  before  the  sun;  but  when  the  sun 
shines  in  his  strength,  there  is  no  other  glory  in  the 
sky.  All  the  glories  of  the  Old  Covenant  have  van- 
ished for  Paul  in  the  light  which  shines  from  the 
Cross  and  from  the  Throne  of  Christ."  ^  Paul  had 
already  caught  the  vision  of  the  conquest  of  Christi- 
anity and  of  the  vanishing  of  Judaism  by  comparison. 
The  Jews  still  linger  in  the  world  as  a  witness  of 
God's  Word  till  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled.^ 
Israel  Zangwill  ^  even  now  laments  :  *'  What  threat- 
ens the  existence  of  the  race  is  the  decay  of  Juda- 
ism." But  with  Paul  there  is  no  rivalry,  so  far  does 
Christianity  outdistance  Judaism.  There  was  no 
rivalry  between  John  the  Baptist  and  Jesus  because 
John  saw  clearly  that  his  light  was  to  fade  before 
that  of  Jesus :  "  He  must  increase,  but  I  must  de- 
crease." ^  John  was  the  herald  of  the  dawn  as  the 
sun  arose.  The  true  Judaism  finds  its  fulfillment  in 
Christ.^  Sometimes  a  preacher  is  sorely  tested  when 
he  sees  another  minister  go  far  beyond  him  in  use- 

*  Maclaren,  <'  Expositions,"  in  loco.  2  Denney,  in  loco. 
'  Luke  xxi.  24 ;  Rom.  xi.  25. 

4  77^-?  Jezuish  Review^  Jan.,  1911,  p.  391. 

*  John  iii.  30.  ^  Rom.  x.  4. 


72        THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

fulness  and  popular  favour.  His  light  is  dimmed  by 
that  of  a  greater  personality.  Happy  is  he  if  he  can 
rejoice  in  the  greater  light,  "  that  he  that  soweth  and 
he  that  reapeth  may  rejoice  together." '  An  old 
minister  will  do  well  to  watch  his  spirit  and  to  find 
joy  in  the  young  ministers  about  him.  God  will 
keep  our  going  out  into  activity  and  our  coming  in 
to  the  inner  shrine.^  *'  In  that  inner  room  of  life 
there  sits  Regret  with  her  pale  face,  and  Shame  with 
dust  on  her  forehead,  and  Memory  with  tears  in  her 
eyes.  It  is  a  pitiable  thing  sometimes,  this  coming 
in.  More  than  one  man  has  consumed  his  life  in  a 
flame  of  activity  because  he  could  not  abide  the 
coming  in.  But,  *  The  Lord  shall  keep  thy  com- 
ing in  ' — that  means  help  for  every  lonely,  impotent, 
inward  hour  of  life."  ^  But  Paul  stands  in  the  full 
glory  of  Christianity  with  naught  to  conceal.  He  is 
not  afraid  that  people  will  find  out  something  about 
the  Gospel.  **  St.  Paul  has  painted  his  own  portrait 
at  full  length,  and  in  every  line  of  it  is  the  portrait  of 
the  minister.  There  is  more  in  his  writings  which 
touches  the  very  quick  of  our  life  as  ministers  than 
in  all  other  writings  in  existence."  ^  Paul  speaks  out 
of  his  heart  for  the  Christian  ministry  of  all  ages 


» John  iv.  36.  «  Cf.  Psalm  cxxi.  8. 

»  Percy  C.  Ainsworth,  "  The  Threshold  Grace." 
*  Stalker,  «  The  Preacher  and  His  Models,"  p.  18. 


THE  MODERN  PROBLEM  73 

when  he  exalts  Christianity  above  Judaism  and  all 
other  religions  in  the  world  and  places  the  Christian 
ministry  at  the  summit  of  life's  callings.  Nothing 
can  ever  overshadow  the  true  glory  of  the  ministry 
of  Jesus  Christ.  "  If  the  pulpit  has  an  authentic 
message  to  deliver  about  Him  whose  thought  is  the 
ground  of  all  existence,  and  whose  will  of  love  is  the 
explanation  of  the  pain  and  mystery  of  life,  the  more 
cultivated  and  eager  the  mind  of  man  becomes,  then 
the  more  indispensable  will  the  voice  of  the  pulpit  be 
felt  to  be;  and  a  real  decay  of  the  power  of  the 
pulpit  can  only  be  due  either  to  preachers  themselves, 
when,  losing  touch  with  the  mysteries  of  revelation, 
they  let  themselves  down  to  the  level  of  vendors  of 
passing  opinion,  or  to  such  a  shallowing  of  the 
general  mind  as  will  render  it  incapable  of  taking  an 
earnest  interest  in  the  profounder  problems  of  exist- 
ence." 

5.  A  Defective  Glory 
At  its  best  the  Old  Covenant  had  drawbacks  of  a 
serious  nature  in  spite  of  its  real  glory.  It  is  a  min- 
istry of  the  "  letter  "  as  opposed  to  **  spirit."  God 
"  made  us  sufficient  as  ministers  of  a  new  covenant ; 
not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the  spirit :  for  the  letter 
killeth,  but  the  spirit  giveth  life."  "^    It  is  not  entirely 

^  Stalker,  "  The  Preacher  and  His  Models,"  p.  27. 
»  2  Cor.  iii.  6. 


74        THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

clear  what  Paul  means  by  these  words.  Meyer' 
takes  it  to  mean  "  the  reaso7t  why  God  hath  made 
them  capable  of  ministering  not  to  the  letter,  but  to 
the  spirit."  Certainly  the  scribes  had  made  the  law 
a  matter  of  letter  and  form,  not  of  spiritual  life  and 
power.  But  it  is  probable  that  Paul  is  making  a 
more  serious  charge  than  the  patent  misuse  of  the 
law  current  among  the  rabbis.  In  Romans  vii.  6  he 
speaks  of  serving  "  in  newness  of  the  spirit,  and  not 
in  oldness  of  the  letter,"  ^  as  in  Romans  ii.  29  he  de- 
scribes the  "  Jew  who  is  one  inwardly ;  and  circum- 
cision is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  not  in  the 
letter."  He  does  not  mean  a  contrast  between  the 
letter  of  the  law  and  the  spirit  of  the  law.  The  con- 
trast is  drawn  between  the  law  as  letter  and  the  re- 
deemed spirit  in  man.^  The  spirituaUife  is  strangled 
by  literalism,  but  it  is  not  the  point  aimed  at  here 
by  Paul.^  The  law  is  meant  by  "  letter  "  and  works 
death.  We  are  under  the  curse  of  the  law  when  we 
seek  to  be  saved  by  the  law.^  Christ  has  redeemed 
us  from  under  the  curse  of  the  law,^  having  become 
a  curse  for  us.  The  Spirit  of  Christ  makes  alive  our 
spirits  held  in  the  grip  of  the  law  which  was  death. 
The    law,  then,  kills,^   while    the    Spirit  quickens.^ 


>  In  loco.  '  Cf.  Rom.  vi.  4.  ^  Bernard,  in  loco. 

4  Denney,  in  loco.  ^  Gal.  iii.  10.  «  Gal.  iii.  13. 

'  Cf.  Rom.  vii.  7-24.  »  Cf.  Rom.  vii.  25-viii.  11. 


THE   MODERN   PROBLEM  75 

**  When  the  apostle  has  written  these  two  Httle  sen- 
tences— when  he  has  supplied  *  letter  '  and  '  spirit  * 
with  '  kill '  and  *  make  alive,'  in  the  sense  which  they 
bear  in  the  Christian  revelation — he  has  gone  as  far 
as  the  mind  of  man  can  go  in  stating  an  effective 
contrast."  But  Paul  turns  the  idea  over  a  few  times. 
He  plainly  mentions  "  the  ministration  of  death, 
written,  ajid  engraved  on  stones "  in  contrast  with 
**  the  ministration  of  the  spirit."  '  Paul  takes  up  the 
word  "  letter "  and  applies  ^  it  to  the  tables  of  law 
brought  down  by  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai.  The  tra- 
dition in  Philo  ^  was  that  the  words  were  graven  on 
stone,  though  the  narrative  in  Exodus  ^  does  not  say 
so.  Paul  had  felt  the  death-chill  of  the  law  in  his 
own  life,  though  the  law  was  good  in  itself,  yet  it 
only  brought  a  keener  consciousness  of  sin.^  The 
Old  Covenant  had  merely  a  "  ministration  of  con- 
demnation "  in  contrast  with  "  the  ministration  of 
righteousness."  ^  Paul  insists  that  righteousness  is 
not  of  the  law,  but  of  faith.^  Satan  poses  as  an  an- 
gel of  light  and  puts  forward  his  ministers  as  "  min- 
isters of  righteousness."  ^  But  the  thunders  of  Sinai 
brought  only  the  voice  of  condemnation.  It  is  all 
"  thou   shalt "   and   "  thou  shalt  not."     There   is  a 


*  2  Cor.  iii.  7  f .  ^2  Cor.  lii.  7.  '  Vita  Mos,  iii.  2. 

*Ex.  xxxiv.  29.  5  Rom.  v.  20  f. ;  vii,  7-12. 

*2  Cor.  iii.  9.  'Gal.  iii.  21.  ^2  Cor.  xi.  15. 


76  THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

majesty  more  transcendent  about  the  New  Dispensa- 
tion/ but  the  dominant  note  is  grace,  not  law.  The 
ministers  of  the  New  Covenant  have  hope  and  cer- 
tainty. They  bear  a  message  of  cheer,  not  of  mere 
condemnation.  It  is  still  a  terrible  thing  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  Hving  God  after  having  trodden 
under  foot  the  Son  of  God  and  having  done  despite 
unto  the  Spirit  of  His  grace,  more  terrible  than  it 
was  under  the  Mosaic  dispensation.^  But  the  minis- 
ter of  Christ  is  not  a  mere  denouncer  of  evil,  though 
he  has  to  cry  aloud  and  spare  not  like  the  prophets 
of  old.  He  is  the  herald  of  the  Gospel,  the  bearer  of 
pardon  to  sinners  who  will  respond  to  the  grace  of 
God.  This  is  the  greatest  difference  between  the 
ministers  of  the  Old  Covenant  and  those  of  the  New. 
"  How  beautiful  are  the  feet  of  them  that  bring  glad 
tidings  of  good  things  ! "  ^  Paul  knew  this  to  be 
true  in  a  sense  not  understood  by  Isaiah.^  It  is  sad 
to  see  a  minister  of  Christ  who  is  still  at  Sinai,  who 
is  still  under  the  Old  Covenant,  who  is  still  proclaim- 
ing the  message  of  death,  who  has  not  caught  the 
vision  of  love  and  grace  and  hope  in  the  New  Cove- 
nant. Paul's  appeal  is  for  men  who  will  carry  the 
message  of  the  Cross,  not  of  Sinai.  Paul  sees  in 
Jesus  the  emancipation  of  the  human  spirit  from  the 

^  Heb.  ii.  1-4  ;  xii.  25-29.  2  Heb.  x.  26-31. 

8  Rom.  X.  15.  4  Isa.  lii.  7 ;  cf.  Nahum  i.  15. 


THE  MODERN   PROBLEM  77 

bondage  of  the  law.  The  chill  of  mere  formalism 
had  frozen  the  life  out  of  Judaism  as  it  has  destroyed 
the  real  power  of  many  expressions  of  Christianity. 
There  is  to-day  the  same  peril  in  sacerdotahsm  that 
Paul  feared  in  Judaism.  The  emptiness  of  mere 
negative  rules  was  abhorrent  to  his  free  spirit.  He 
had  known  by  bitter  experience  the  dry-rot  of  mere 
religiosity  and  sanctimoniousness.  Professional 
sanctity  was  repellent  to  Paul's  nature.  He  saw  in 
the  Christian  ministry  the  exponents  of  God's  love 
and  of  personal  piety.  No  greater  peril  confronts 
the  minister  to-day  than  the  one  Paul  found  in  the 
Judaism  of  his  day.  The  prophet  disappeared  in  the 
priest.  The  priest  dried  up  in  the  scribe.  The 
scribe  split  hairs  over  what  prophet  and  priest  had 
meant.  Traditional  interpretation  took  the  place  of 
vital  experience  of  God.  Love  of  the  external  killed 
the  inner  life  and  crucified  Jesus  of  Nazareth  for  His 
emphasis  on  the  spiritual  life  and  rebuke  of  the  mere 
ceremonialism  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees.  Stephen 
went  the  way  of  Jesus  when  he  rebuked  the  Pharisees 
for  their  perversion  of  real  religion  and  sought  to  give 
the  spiritual  interpretation  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
as  expounded  by  Jesus.  Paul  turned  from  persecut- 
ing Pharisee  to  spiritual  interpreter  of  Jesus  and 
took  the  place  of  Stephen  in  whose  death  he  had  re- 
joiced.   Jesus  and  Stephen  fought  official  Pharisaism 


78        THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

in  the  current  Judaism.  Paul  took  up  the  battle 
with  Pharisaism  within  the  Christian  fold  which  was 
seeking  to  put  the  fetters  of  their  perverted  Judaism 
upon  the  Christianity  of  Jesus.  The  one  hope  of 
rescue  for  the  soul  of  man  was  in  jeopardy.  Paul's 
soul  was  stirred  to  its  depths  and  he  met  the  issue 
with  all  the  force  of  his  nature.  He  is  in  the  thick 
of  the  fight  with  these  Judaizing  Christians,  who 
were  attempting  to  destroy  spiritual  Christianity, 
when  he  draws  the  contrast  here  between  Judaism 
and  Christianity.  The  battle  between  the  bondage 
of  legalism  and  spiritual  Christianity  has  never 
ceased.  Paul  set  up  his  standard  in  2  Corinthians, 
Galatians,  Romans.  Luther  took  it  up  hundreds  of 
years  afterwards.  The  peril  is  always  real.  The 
very  difficulties  of  the  struggle  challenge  great  spirits 
to  enter  the  lists.  The  evident  perversions  of  Chris- 
tianity and  failure  of  some  ministers  to  be  apostles 
of  freedom  in  Christ  should  not  repel  the  best  spirits 
of  our  time.  They  should  the  rather  hear  the  call 
to  fight  for  the  soul  of  man  against  all  who  seek  to 
bind  him  whether  king  or  priest,  state  or  church, 
traditionahst  or  innovationist.  The  minister  will 
need  to  keep  himself  close  to  God  if  he  is  to  fight 
against  the  mighty  forces  of  reaction  and  radicalism. 
Paul  had  to  beat  off  the  Judaizers  with  their  narrow- 
ness on  the  one  hand  and  the  Gnostics  with  their 


THE  MODERN  PROBLEM  79 

false  liberality  and  philosophic  looseness  on  the  other. 
The  preacher  of  Christ  to-day  needs  constant  re- 
newal of  his  spiritual  life  to  avoid  this  empty  profes- 
sionalism into  which  Judaism  had  sunk.  ''  Valuable 
as  an  initial  call  may  be,  it  will  not  do  to  trade  too 
long  on  such  a  memory.  A  ministry  of  growing 
power  must  be  one  of  growing  experience.  The  soul 
must  be  in  touch  with  God  and  enjoy  golden  hours 
of  fresh  revelation.  The  truth  must  come  to  the 
minister  as  the  satisfaction  of  his  own  needs  and  the 
answer  to  his  perplexities." '  Religiosity  is  not 
religion. 

6.  An  Ineffective  Glory 
The  saddest  thing  about  the  history  of  the  Old 
Covenant  was  its  failure  to  work  the  spiritual  renewal 
of  the  people.  The  story  of  Israel  till  the  Captivity 
is  that  of  desertion  of  God.  The  people  kept  going 
after  the  idols  of  the  nations  around  them  in  spite  of 
prophets  like  Samuel,  Elijah,  Elisha,  Isaiah,  Jere- 
miah. After  the  Restoration  the  Jews  stuck  to  the 
letter  of  the  law  and  missed  God  again.  Hear  Paul  ^ 
again :  '•  But  their  minds  were  hardened ;  for  until 
this  very  day  at  the  reading  of  the  Old  Covenant  the 
same  veil  remaineth,  it  not  being  revealed  to  them 

»  Stalker,  "  The  Preacher  and  His  Models,"  p.  53. 
*2  Cor.  iii.  14  f. 


8o        THE  GLORY  THAT  FADED 

that  it  is  done  away  in  Christ.  But  unto  this  day, 
whensoever  Moses  is  read,  a  veil  heth  upon  the 
heart."  Moses  hved  to  see  the  bhndness  of  his  peo- 
ple :  "  But  Jehovah  hath  not  given  you  a  heart  to 
know,  and  eyes  to  see,  and  ears  to  hear,  unto  this 
day."  *  Indeed,  at  Sinai  Moses  knew  when  he  cried  : 
"  Oh,  this  people  have  sinned  a  great  sin  and  have 
made  them  gods  of  gold."^  But  even  so  Moses 
loved  his  people  so  much  that  he  wished  to  be  blotted 
out  of  God's  book  if  God  could  not  forgive  them.^ 
So  Paul  felt  about  the  Jews :  "  I  could  wish  that  I 
myself  were  anathema  from  Christ  for  my  brethren's 
sake,  my  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh."*  But 
Paul  knew  only  too  well  the  tragedy^  of  Judaism, 
how  Jesus  came  unto  His  own  and  His  own  received 
Him  not.^  He  had  himself  tried  to  lift  the  veil  that 
rested  on  the  heart  of  the  Jews,  but  had  found  it  very 
hard  to  do.^  They  had  thrust  the  Gospel  from  them 
and  compelled  Paul  to  turn  to  the  Gentiles.  Paul 
knew  how  bitter  it  was  to  preach  to  an  unresponsive 
audience,  whose  thoughts  were  hardened  ^  like  tough 
gristle  or  leather.  The  veil  on  the  face  of  Moses  had 
its  analogue  in  a  veil  on  the  heart  of  the  people.  He 
had  to  hide  the  glory  on  his  face  from  them  and  they 

*  Deut.  xxix.  4.  *Ex.  xxxii.  31.                  'Ex.  xxxii.  32. 

4  Rom.  ix.  3.  «  Cf.  Conder,  "  The  Hebrew  Tragedy." 

•John  i.  II.  'Cf.  Acts  xiii.  44  ff.;  xvii.  5;  xviii.  14,  etc. 
s  2  Cor.  iii.  14. 


THE  MODERN   PROBLEM  8 1 

became  unable  to  see  the  glory  after  the  other  veil  was 
gone.  The  message  of  Moses  is  written  in  the  Old 
Covenant  *  (Testament),  but  the  people  have  no  eyes 
to  see.  The  eyes  of  their  heart  ^  have  not  been  en- 
lightened that  they  may  know  the  "  riches  of  the 
glory  of  his  inheritance  in  the  saints."  **  But  as  to 
Israel  he  saith,  All  the  day  long  did  I  spread  out  my 
hands  to  a  disobedient  and  gainsaying  people."^ 
Paul  found  hope  in  the  fact  that  the  Gentiles  will 
hear.^  Good  may  come  in  the  end  to  the  Jews  who 
remain.*  But,  meanwhile,  the  Jews  still  have  the 
veil  on  their  hearts.  Some  of  them  are  beginning  to 
see  some  beauty  in  Jesus.^  Others  ^  resent  this  Jew- 
ish liberalism  as  treason  to  Moses.  The  breach  be- 
tween the  current  Judaism  and  Christianity  still  exists. 
But,  that  is  not  all.  Some  ministers  find  a  wider 
breach  between  the  currents  of  modern  life  and 
the  message  of  Christ.  Some,  alas,  find  that  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  no  longer  charms  their  own  souls, 
that  they  have  an  unresponsive  people  whose  hearts 
are  dead  to  the  spiritual  appeal,  who  are  slaves  to 
mammon  and  greed  and  who  do  not  love  God  nor 
fear  man.  The  light  has  gone  out  and  the  glory  has 
faded  from  the  hills.     God  pity  that  preacher  and 

1  Cf.  Heb.  ix.  i6  f.  2  Eph.  i.  18.  »  Rom.  x.  21. 

*  Acts  xxviii,  28.  5  Rom.  xi. 

*  Cf.  Montefiore,  "  The  Religious  Teaching  of  Jesus  "  (1910). 
'  Cf.  The  Jewish  Review y  October,  19 10. 


82  THE   GLORY   THAT   FADED 

turn  his  face  towards  Jesus.  "  But  whensoever  it 
[the  heart]  shall  turn  to  the  Lord,  the  veil  is  taken 
away."  *  By  "  Lord  "  Paul  means  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Christ  can  hft  the  veil  of  spiritual  ignorance  and 
indifference  from  the  heart  of  Jew  and  Gentile, 
preacher  and  people.  No  one  else  can  do  that. 
What  the  world  to-day  needs  is  the  look  at  Christ, 
the  look  of  trust  with  the  heart,  the  turning  from 
Moses  and  rabbi,  from  mammon  and  self,  from  pride 
of  philosophy  and  self-righteousness,  to  the  Light 
that  is  in  the  Face  of  Christ.  There  and  there  alone 
will  be  found  spiritual  rejuvenation. 

1  2  Cor.  iii.  1 6. 


Ill 

THE  LIGHT  IN   THE  FACE  OF  JESUS- 
THE  ATTRACTION  OF  CHRIST 

(2  Cor.  iv.  4-6) 


The   light   of  the  knowledge  of  the 

glory    of  God  in   the  face   of  Jesus 

Christ." 

— 2  Cor.  iv.  o. 


Ill 

THE  LIGHT  IN  THE  FACE  OF  JESUS-THE 
ATTRACTION  OF  CHRIST 

I.     The  Face  of  Jesus  Christ 

PAUL   did   not   probably  know  Jesus  in  the 
flesh.     He  once  knew  Him  "  after  the  flesh,"  ^ 
but  that  expression  almost  certainly  means 
that  he   once   looked   upon  Christ  as  men  of  the 
world  still  do.     He  had  once  hated  and  persecuted 
Jesus.     It  is  sometimes  objected  that  Paul  discounted 
the  earthly  life  of  Jesus.     "  He  tells  us  in  several 
places,  more  especially  in  the  opening  chapters  of 
Galatians,  that  he  does  not  regard  the  searching  out 
of  historic  evidence  as  of  any  importance."  ^     That  is 
surely    reading    much   into   Paul.     Hear   Professor 
Gardner  again  :     "  Within  a  generation  of  the  Cruci- 
fixion we  find  St.  Paul  placing  the  human  life  of  his 
Master  between  two  periods  of  celestial  exaltation. 
That  was  the  beginning  of  Christology."     Paul  did 
do  that,  but  so  did  John's  GospeP  and  Epistles^  and 

2  Percy  Gardner,  in  «  Jesus  or  Christ  "  {Hibbert  Journal  Supple^ 
ment  for  1909),  p.  48. 

*  John  i.  1-4  ;  cf.  "  The  Face  of  Jesus,"  by  David  Smith. 
85 


86        THE  LIGHT  IN  THE  FACE  OF  JESUS 

the  Synoptic  Gospels  and  Acts.'  It  is  true  that 
Paul  cared  more  about  the  right  interpretation  of 
Jesus  and  the  proper  attitude  towards  Him  than  he 
did  about  the  mere  historical  events  of  the  earthly- 
life  of  Jesus.  But  a  careful  study  of  Paul's  Epistles 
and  his  addresses  in  Acts  will  show  that  he  knew 
all  the  crucial  points  of  that  life.  Many  of  these 
were  matters  of  public  knowledge  which  Paul  would 
have  learned  during  his  leadership  of  the  persecution 
of  the  Christians  in  Jerusalem.  After  his  conversion 
Paul  had  fifteen  days  in  Jerusalem  with  Simon  Peter 
right  in  the  midst  of  the  closing  scenes  of  Christ's 
life.2  "  No  one  has  the  right  to  say  that  Saul  had 
no  knowledge  of  the  historical  Jesus.  If  Luke  could 
learn,  so  could  Paul.  Sanday  ^  rightly  argues  that 
the  allusions  in  Paul's  Epistles  (cf.  i  Cor.  xi.  23-25  ; 
XV.  3-8)  must  be  regarded  as  samples  of  Paul's 
knowledge  of  the  details  of  the  life  of  Jesus.  He 
appeals  to  the  words  of  Jesus  ;  he  understands  the 
character  of  Jesus ;  he  knows  what  the  message  and 
mission  of  Jesus  is."  ^  The  qualifications  of  Paul  as 
an  interpreter  of  Jesus  challenge  us  at  once  in  the 
verses  ^  before  us.     I  venture  to  say  that  he  is  the 


1  Cf.  Warfield,  «  The  Lord  of  Glory,"   for  a  full  development  of 
this  argument.  2  Gal.  i.  18. 

3  Art.  "  Paul  "  in  Hastings's  D.  C.  G. 
*  Robertson,  "  Epochs  in  the  Life  of  Paul,"  p.  89. 
^  2  Cor.  iv.  4-6. 


THE  ATTRACTION   OF  CHRIST  87 

supreme  interpreter  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  and  John  the 
Apostle.  It  is  true  that  Paul's  spiritual  eyes  had 
been  blinded  before  the  great  light  shone  around 
him  that  day  on  the  road  to  Damascus.*  That  light 
blinded  the  eyes  of  his  body,  but  opened  the  eyes  of 
his  soul.  "  I  could  not  see  for  the  glory  of  that 
light."  Yes,  but  he  had  seen  the  glory  in  the  face 
of  Jesus.  "  When  his  eyes  were  opened,  he  saw 
nothing  "  ^  but  Jesus.  That  voice  and  that  face  fol- 
lowed him  through  life.  In  Damascus  the  scales 
fell  from  his  eyes  and  the  Holy  Spirit  came  upon 
him  and  he  was  baptized,  but  he  had  already  seen 
Jesus  in  the  way.^  That  was  his  unbroken  testimony 
that  he  had  seen  the  Lord  Jesus  on  the  way  to 
Damascus.^  "  I  was  not  disobedient  to  the  heavenly 
vision."^  That  transcendent  experience  was  the 
crux  upon  which  all  of  Paul's  testimony  turned.  He 
never  doubted  its  reality  for  one  moment.  Many 
persons  had  looked  on  the  face  of  Jesus  while  in  the 
flesh  who  did  not  understand  Him.  There  was  be- 
yond doubt  a  wondrous  fascination  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  that  no  artist  has  succeeded  in  putting  upon 
canvas.  The  pictures  of  Christ  are  either  too  effemi- 
nate or  too  crude.^     No  face  has  ever  so  haunted  and 


1  Acts  ix.  3  ;  xxii.  6  ;  xxvi,  13.        '  Acts  ix.  8.        ^  Acts  ix.  17  f. 
^  Acts  ix.  27  ;  I  Cor.  xv.  8.  ^  Acts  xxvi.  19. 

6  Cf.  Tissot,  "  The  Life  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  "  (1900),  which 
is  well  done  as  a  whole.     See  also  "  The  Christ  Face  in  Art." 


88        THE  LIGHT  IN  THE  FACE  OF  JESUS 

baffled  the  greatest  artists.  This  face  was  really  hu- 
man, but  free  from  the  taint  of  sin  and  disease.  No 
spectres  of  the  past  looked  through  those  eyes.  No 
shadows  of  forbidden  secrets  flitted  past.  Pity,  un- 
utterable compassion,  looked  out  of  the  depths  of 
purity  and  unsullied  strength.  Untarnished  truth 
looked  out  on  a  world  of  lies.  The  noblest  impulses 
of  man  met  the  shock  of  hate  and  envy.  The  clear 
light  of  heaven's  love  gazed  longingly  at  the  suffering 
and  the  sinning.  Those  eyes  could  flash  with  ter- 
rific power  upon  hypocrites  who  used  the  livery  of 
heaven  to  serve  the  devil  in.  Before  His  wrath  men 
slunk  away  like  cowed  beasts,  guilty  and  condemned. 
But  the  penitent  and  the  contrite  saw  a  new  hope 
as  they  looked  in  the  face  of  Jesus.  There  were 
some  who  could  never  forget  the  thrill  of  joy  which 
came  to  their  hearts  as  they  gazed  into  His  face. 
At  moments  they  could  be  amazed  at  the  struggling 
emotions  in  His  countenance.  There  were  three 
who  beheld  His  majestic  glory  on  the  mount.  But 
not  all  men  could  see  all  this  in  the  face  of  Jesus. 
The  rabbis  were  angered  to  desperation  as  they  saw 
that  calm  and  powerful  face.  Its  very  innocence  en- 
raged them.  But  Paul  was  a  man  gifted  above  his 
fellows.  When  once  he  did  see  Jesus  Christ,  he  was 
in  a  position  to  see  more  than  many  other  less  gifted 
spirits.     His  soul  was  keyed  to  the  highest  tension 


THE  ATTRACTION  OF  CHRIST  89 

as  he  looked  into  the  face  of  Jesus.  In  his  after 
study  of  that  face  he  had  the  skill  of  a  supreme 
artist.  He  never  ceased  looking.  At  first  Paul  had 
studied  the  picture  of  Jesus  that  he  might  see  the 
secret  of  His  power.  "  But,  as  he  looked,  there  hap- 
pened a  strange  thing — the  picture  crept  into  his 
soul.  He  had  sought  to  find  the  secret  of  its  power 
with  the  view  of  refuting  it.  He  did  find  the  secret 
of  its  power ;  but  it  refuted  him.  The  gaze  of  anger 
was  transmuted  into  a  gaze  of  rapture."  *  Matheson 
calls  Paul  "  the  Illuminated  "  and  it  aptly  describes 
the  qualifications  of  Paul  for  his  interpretation  of 
Christ.  "  Remember,  the  Christ  whom  Paul  first  saw 
was  the  Christ  in  heaven.  He  never  gazed  upon  the 
Man  of  Galilee.  His  earliest  vision  was  the  vision  of 
a  Jesus  glorified.  Not  on  the  road  to  the  Cross  did 
Christ  meet  him ;  He  came  to  him  panoplied  in 
heavenly  splendour.  What  his  inner  eye  beheld  was 
the  Christ  of  the  future — a  Christ  of  majesty,  a  Christ 
of  power,  a  Christ  who  came  clothed  in  the  lightning 
and  wreathed  in  the  conqueror's  robe.  That  was  the 
first  Christian  image  in  Paul's  soul.  Is  it  wonderful 
that  it  should  have  been  the  first  Christian  image  in 
his  writings  ?  "  ^  The  famous  blind  preacher  has  seen 
into  the  secret  of  Paul's  soul.^     It  is  interesting  how 

»  Matheson,  "Representative  Men  of  the  New  Testament,"  p.  335. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  343. 

*Cf.  also  Matheson,  "  Spiritual  Development  of  St.  Paul." 


90        THE   LIGHT   IN  THE   FACE  OF  JESUS 

fond  Matheson  was  of  pictures  that  he  carried  in  his 
memory  from  the  days  before  he  lost  his  eyesight. 
He  has  seen  with  the  eye  of  the  soul  more  than 
many  who  had  the  sight  of  the  eye/  Moses  had 
once  asked  to  look  upon  the  glory  of  God.  '•  Show 
me,  I  pray  thee,  Thy  glory.  .  .  .  And  He  said, 
thou  canst  not  see  My  face  ;  for  man  shall  not  see  Me 
and  live.  And  Jehovah  said.  Behold  there  is  a  place 
by  Me,  and  thou  shalt  stand  upon  the  rock,  and  it 
shall  come  to  pass,  while  My  glory  passeth  by,  that 
I  will  put  thee  in  a  cleft  of  the  rock,  and  will  cover 
thee  with  My  hand  until  I  have  passed  by :  and  I 
will  take  away  My  hand,  and  thou  shalt  see  My 
back ;  but  My  face  shall  not  be  seen."  ^  This  is 
anthropomorphic,  to  be  sure,  but  it  marks  the  differ- 
ence between  the  Old  Covenant  and  the  New.  It  is 
poetic  imagery  when  Moses  said  :  "  For  Thou,  Je- 
hovah, art  seen  face  to  face,"^  though  a  great  spir- 
itual reality.  God  did  manifest  Himself  in  wonderful 
measure  to  Moses,  but  not  as  Paul  saw  God  in  the  face 
of  Christ.  The  Greek  word  for  "  face  " ''  has  also  the 
idea  of  "  person  "  as  in  2  Corinthians  i.  1 1  ;  viii.  24. 
Paul  several  times  speaks  of  the  face  of  Christ.*^  It 
was  more  than  a  mere  image  to  Paul,  but  he  longed 

^  Cf.   Matheson,  *«  Studies  of  the  Portrait  of  Christ."      Two  vol- 
umes. 2  Ex.  XXX wi.  18-23. 
8  Num.  xiv.  14.  4  2  Cor.  iv.  6. 
«  I  Cor.  xiii.  12;  2  Cor.  ii.  10 ;  2  Thess.  i.  9. 


THE  ATTRACTION  OF  CHRIST  QI 

for  the  time  when  he  would  no  longer  see  through  a 
mirror  as  through  a  puzzUng  and  baffling  enigma, 
but  would  be  able  to  look  Jesus  Christ  in  the  eye 
again,  "  face  to  face."  ' 

2.     The  Image  of  God 
Paul  expressly  speaks  of  "  Christ,  who  is  the  image 
of  God."  2     By  this  term  Paul  means  much  more  than 
moral  likeness  to  God^     Man   in   his  power  bears 
the  image  and  glory  of  God.^     It  is  the  destiny  of 
believers  to  bear  the  image  of  the  Son  of  God.«     But 
in  this  passage  Paul  means  a  great  deal  more.     He 
here  presents  not  the  idea  of  mere  similarity ,«  but  the 
representation  and  manifestation  of  God7     It  is  the 
divine  nature  and  absolute  moral  excellence  of  Jesus 
that  Paul  has  here  in  mind  as  in  Colossians  i.  15*. 
"  Who  is  the  image  of  the  invisible  God,  the  first- 
born of  all   creation." «     Paul   had   evidently  come 
to   see  that  Jesus   Christ  was   worthy   to  be  called 
God.     Indeed,  the  correct  text  of  Acts  xx.  28,   in 
Paul's  address  to  the  Ephesian  elders,  has  -  Church 
of  God  which  He  purchased  with  His  own  blood." 
So    in    Romans    ix.   5   the    most  natural   punctua- 
tion has  "  God  blessed   forever "  in   apposition  to 

,     ^         ...    ,^  22  Cor.  iv.  4. 

1  I  Cor.  xiii,  12.  ^,  .,    ••• 

3  Col.  iii.  10;  1  Cor.  xv.  49;  P^iil-  "i-  2^'  ...   ^       ,  ^r..  \\\    iS 

4  T  Tor    xi    7  ^  I^O"^'  ^"^'  ^9  ;    2  Cor.    11.  18. 

«  Or  likenesl'  '  Cf.  Thayer's  Lexicon.  «  Cf.  Heb.  i.  3. 


92        THE  LIGHT  IN  THE  FACE  OF  JESUS 

**  Christ  concerning  the  flesh,  who  is  over  all." 
Paul  clearly  taught  the  preexistent  state  and  glory 
of  Jesus  Christ  in  heaven/  Christ  existed  in  the 
form  of  God  and  on  an  equality  with  God  in  heaven 
before  His  birth  and  humiliation.^  Whatever  the 
*'  Kenosis  "  means  or  does  not  mean,  Paul  is  clear 
as  to  the  essential  deity  of  Christ  in  heaven.  He 
had  the  form  of  God  in  heaven  as  He  had  the  form 
of  a  servant  on  earth.^  If  He  was  a  real  man  here. 
He  was  true  God  there.  Paul  grasped  strongly  the 
true  deity  of  Jesus  Christ  into  whose  face  he  looked. 
It  is  not  the  "  how,"  but  the  fact.  Forsyth  ^  puts  the 
case  of  Paul  as  of  all  believers  to-day  when  he  says  : 
•*  If  we  ask  how  Eternal  Godhead  could  make  the 
actual  condition  of  human  nature  His  own,  we  must 
answer,  as  I  have  already  said,  that  we  do  not  know. 
We  cannot  follow  the  steps  of  the  process,  or  make 
a  psychological  sketch."  Nor  does  Paul  attempt  it, 
though  he  is  certain  of  the  fact.  It  is  reassuring  at 
any  rate  to  see  how  a  great  scientist  like  Sir  Ohver 
Lodge  ^  finds  no  objection  on  scientific  grounds  to  the 
fact  "  that  a  Divine  Spirit — that  the  Deity  Himself, 
indeed — went  through  this  process  in  order  to  make 
Himself  known  to  man,  and  also  in  order  fully  to 

»  2  Cor.  viii.  9.  «  Phil.  ii.  6.  ^  phU.  ii.  7. 

•  "  Person  and  Place  of  Jesus  Christ,"   p.  320. 
8  "Jesus    or    Christ"   {Hibbert  Journal  Supplement   for   1909), 
p.  119. 


THE  ATTRACTION  OF  CHRIST  93 

realize  the  conditions  and  limitations  of  the  free 
beings  which,  through  evolution,  had  gradually  been 
permitted  to  exist.  .  .  .  And  this  individualized 
and  human  aspect  of  the  eternally  Divine  Spirit  we 
know  as  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  man  hke  ourselves, 
save  that  the  glory  of  that  lofty  Spirit  shone  through 
the  fleshly  covering  and  preserved  it  from  the  load 
of  sin  which  follows  from  inadequate  knowledge,  im- 
perfect insight,  animal  ancestry,  and  alien  will."  In 
the  face  of  this  sure  word  from  a  really  great  scientist 
one  need  not  be  dismayed  by  the  weak  surrender  of 
the  deity  of  Jesus  by  modern  theologians  out  of 
dread  of  "  the  category  of  supernaturalism."  "  One 
may  question  whether  the  first  interpreters'  specula- 
tions about  Jesus  can  lay  any  stronger  claim  to 
finality  than  can  their  cosmology."  *  Dr.  Case 
makes  merry  with  the  theologians  who  still  believe 
that  "  God  impinged  upon  the  universe  from  without, 
He  projected  Himself  into  human  history."  But 
Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  unlike  Dr.  Case,  is  not  afraid  of 
God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  may  never 
know  how  Christ  is  the  image  of  God.  Dr.  Sanday 
has  made  a  bold  suggestion.  He  takes  advantage 
of  the  new  discussions  concerning  the  subconscious 
self  to  suggest  the  possibility  that  the  divine  nature 

1  Prof.  S.  J.  Case,  of   the  Divinity  School  of  the  University  of 
Chicago,  Biblical  World,  Jan.,  191 1,  p.  8. 


94        THE   LIGHT   IN   THE   FACE   OF  JESUS 

of  Jesus  has  its  locus  in  this  subhminal  region  of 
human  nature.'  He  calls  this  notion  "  A  Tentative 
Modern  Christology."  It  is  most  assuredly  attractive 
as  over  against  the  Chalcedonian  conception  of  the 
Two  Natures,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  after  all  it  would 
not  be  a  denial  of  the  actual  deity  of  Christ  in  spite 
of  Dr.  Sanday's  express  avowal  of  his  own  faith  in 
the  deity  of  Jesus  Christ.^  But  it  is  more  than  likely 
that  after  all  one  will  be  merely  playing  with  phrases 
which  do  not  square  with  the  actual  facts.  The 
consciousness  may  have  no  "  planes "  at  all  in  a 
material  sense  and  the  conscious  rational  will  is  more 
important  than  the  unconscious  occasional  impulses.^ 
We  shall  probably  have  to  continue  to  confess  our 
ignorance  of  the  ultimate  facts  concerning  the  Person 
of  Christ.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  do  not  understand 
either  human  nature  in  ourselves  or  divine  nature 
in  God.  It  is  not  surprising  that  we  are  somewhat 
helpless  in  grasping  the  idea  of  the  combination  of 
the  two.  Scientists  like  Lord  Kelvin  and  Sir  William 
Ramsay  make  no  pretensions  to  expound  the  ulti- 
mate qualities  of  matter.     Theologians  may  well  be 


*  "  Christologies  Ancient  and  Modern,"  pp.  163  fF. 

^  Cf.  Warfield,  Princeton  Theological  Review^  Jan.,  1911,  p.  172. 
For  a  sympathetic  review  of  Dr.  Sanday's  idea  see  The  Interpreter 
for  Jan.,  191 1  (editorial). 

3  For  an  able  critique  of  Dr.  Sanday's  position  see  "  Theology  and 
the  Subconscious,"  by  the  Right  Rev,  C.  F.  D'Arcy,  D.  D,,  in  the 
/libber t  Journal  for  Jan.,  191 1. 


THE  ATTRACTION   OF  CHRIST  95 

equally  humble  in  the  higher  realm  of  spirit.  But 
there  is  no  doubt  at  all  as  to  where  Paul  placed 
Jesus.  "  It  is  not  putting  it  too  strongly  to  say  that 
He  had  for  Paul  the  religious  value  of  God.  To 
suppose  that  Paul  could  have  classified  Him,  and 
put  Him  in  a  series  along  with  the  other  great  men 
who  have  contributed  to  the  spiritual  elevation  of  the 
race,  is  to  deride  his  sincerity  and  his  passion."  '  It 
is  just  this  conception  of  Jesus  as  God  which  has 
won  for  Him  the  adoration  of  men.  '*  We  might 
suppose  that  such  an  idea  would  grow  faint  and 
shadowy,  that  such  an  image  would  fade  and  melt 
away  amid  the  rest  of  time's  dreams.  But  as  a 
matter  of  practical  experience, 

<<  '  That  one  face,  far  from  vanish,  rather  grows, 
Or  decomposes,  but  to  recompose.' 

All  generations  of  believers  have  proved  its  strange, 
unearthly  attraction,  its  enduring  permanence,  its 
mighty  and  miraculous  power."  ^ 

3.     The  Glory  of  God 
There  was  "  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ."  ^     Others  besides  Jesus  have  manifested  the 

1  Denney,  "  Jesus  and  the  Gospel,"  p.  27. 

2  Sir  W.  Robertson  Nicoll  in  The  British  Weekly. 
•  2  Cor.  iv.  6. 


96        THE  LIGHT  IN  THE  FACE  OF  JESUS 

glory  of  God.  Paul  *  has  just  spoken  of  the  fact  that 
*'  the  children  of  Israel  could  not  look  steadfastly 
upon  the  face  of  Moses  for  the  glory  of  his  face." 
This  wonderful  fact  did  not  render  Moses  divine. 
For  a  careful  argument  showing  the  superiority  of 
Jesus  over  Moses,  as  the  Son  is  above  the  servant, 
see  Hebrews  iii.  i-6.  He  merely  reflected  the  tran- 
scendent glory  which  he  had  been  beholding.  At 
the  death  of  Elijah  there  came  "  a  chariot  of  fire, 
and  horses  of  fire  which  parted  them  asunder ;  and 
Elijah  went  up  by  a  whirlwind  into  heaven."  ^  But 
Elijah  was  not  divine.  The  face  of  Stephen  had 
looked  like  the  face  of  an  angel.  He  said :  "  Behold, 
I  see  the  heavens  opened,  and  the  Son  of  man  stand- 
ing on  the  right  hand  of  God."^  In  his  exaltation 
Jesus  is  still  "  the  Son  of  man."  That  is  part  of  His 
glory .^  There  was  a  humiliation  in  the  Incarnation 
of  Christ.  Paul  in  a  marvellous  way  pictures  the 
descent  of  Christ  from  the  throne  of  God  to  the  death 
of  the  Cross.^  It  is  like  coming  down  the  long  stair- 
way. But  the  descent  was  just  to  open  up  the  way 
to  God.  Jesus  in  His  humanity  was  the  way  to 
God.^  In  His  humanity  He  was  able  to  give  help  to 
the  seed  of  Abraham  ^  and  to  make  possible  free  com- 
munion with  God.     Jesus  is  the  real  Jacob's  Ladder 

1  2  Cor.  iii.  7.  ^2  Kings  ii.  11.  ^  Acts  vi   15  ;  vii.  56. 

*C{.  Heb.  iii.  i-io.  "  Phil.  ii.  5-9. 

6  John  xiv.  6.  ">  Heb.  ii.  16. 


THE  ATTRACTION   OF  CHRIST  97 

between  heaven  and  earth .^     Men  can  thus  ascend 
upon  the  Son  of  man  to  heaven  as  angels  descend 
upon   Him.     «'  But  we  behold   Him  who  hath  been 
made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  even  Jesus,  be- 
cause of  the  suffering  of  death  crowned  with  glory 
and  honour,  that  by  the  grace  of  God  He  should 
taste  of  death  for  every  man."  ^     There  was  a  glory  in 
Jesus  in  the  days  of  His  flesh.     Peter  if  he  wrote  the 
Second  Epistle  (which  I  am  glad  to  know  is  the  view 
of  Bigg^)  has  a  vivid  recollection  of  that  wonder- 
ful night  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  :  "  But  we 
were  eye-witnesses  of  His  majesty.     For  He  received 
from  God  the  Father  honour  and  glory,  when  there 
was   borne   such   a  voice  to  Him  by  the  Majestic 
Glory,  This  is  My  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased :    and  this  voice  we  ourselves  heard   borne 
out  of  heaven,  when  we  were  with  Him  in  the  holy 
mount."  ^    This   transfiguration  ^   was   a   temporary 
revelation  of  the  glory  which  Jesus  had  with  the 
Father    before    the    Incarnation.^     The   time   came 
when  Jesus  longed  for  a  final   restoration  of  that 
glory  by  His  return  to  the  Father.     John  adds  his 
testimony  to  that  of  Peter  :     "  We  beheld  His  glory, 
glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  from  the  Father."  ^ 
This  took  place  after  "  the  Word  became  flesh  and 

1  John  i    t;  I  "^  ^^^*  "•  ^* 

3  "  International  and  Crit.  Commentary."  ^  2  Pet  i.  i6-i8. 

*  Mark  ix.  2.  «  John  xvii.  5.  '  John  1.  14. 


98        THE  LIGHT  IN  THE  FACE  OF  JESUS 

dwelt  among  us  "  (tabernacled  with  us).  Whether 
John  is  referring  only  to  the  Transfiguration  of  Jesus 
we  do  not  know.  He  seems  to  include  others  in 
this  witness.  There  were  other  times  when  there 
was  a  strange  glory  in  the  look  of  Jesus.  As  Jesus 
went  up  to  Jerusalem  the  last  time,  full  of  thoughts 
of  His  death  (as  at  the  Transfiguration),  we  read : 
"  And  Jesus  was  going  before  them :  and  they  were 
amazed ;  and  they  that  followed  were  afraid."  *  But 
it  was  true  of  the  whole  life  of  Jesus  that  "  He  mani- 
fested His  glory  "  ^  by  His  miracles.  By  the  grave 
of  Lazarus  Jesus  said  to  Martha :  *'  Said  I  not  unto 
thee  that,  if  thou  believedst,  thou  shouldst  see  the 
glory  of  God  ?  "  ^  It  was  true  of  Jesus,  as  it  was  not 
true  of  Moses,  that  He  was  and  is  the  glory  of  God, 
"  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only  be- 
gotten Son,  who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father, 
He  hath  declared  Him."  ^  The  best  manuscripts 
here  read  "  God  only  begotten."  In  His  humanity 
Jesus  has  revealed  the  Father.  The  one  who  really 
sees  Jesus  has  seen  the  Father.^  Jesus  is  God's  Word 
about  Himself  to  men.  He  has  made  the  full  and 
final  interpretation  ^  of  God  to  men.  "  He  is  the 
only  window  which  opens  out  and  gives  the  vision 
of  that  far-off  land.     I,  for  my  part,  believe  that,  if  I 

1  Mark  x.  32.  2  John  ii.  11.  ^  John  xi.  40. 

*  John  i.  18.  6  John  xiv.  8  flf.  e  John  i.  18. 


THE  ATTRACTION   OF  CHRIST  99 

might  use  such  a  metaphor,  He  is  the  Columbus  of 
the  New  World."  '  This  is  Paul's  conception  of  the 
glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  «'  Christ 
on  the  throne  was,  if  one  may  say  so,  a  more  im- 
mediate certainty  to  Paul,  than  Jesus  on  the  banks 
of  the  lake,  or  even  Jesus  on  the  cross."  ^ 

4.     Christ  Jesus  as  Lord 
This  is  the  way  Paul  preached.^     The  words  are 
carefully  chosen.     It  is  possible  that  Paul  may  have 
heard  thus  early  of  the  incipient  Gnosticism  which 
later   appeared   in   the   Lycus   Valley  in   Asia  and 
which   is    combated   in  Colossians^  and  Ephesians. 
But  that  is  hardly  probable,  though  Paul  had  recently 
come  from  Ephesus.     These  Gnostics  were  of  two 
types  in  their  attitude  towards  the  Person  of  Christ. 
The  Docetic  Gnostics  denied  the  actual  humanity  of 
Christ.     He    merely    seemed    to   be   a   man.     The 
Cerinthian  Gnostics  made  a  sharp  distinction  between 
the  man  Jesus  and  the  Christ  (an  cBon  or  emanation 
of  God  which  came  upon  Jesus  at  His  baptism  and 
left  Him  before  His  death  on  the  Cross).     The  lan- 
guage of  Paul  here  at  any  rate  contravenes  both  of 
these  theories,  especially  the  Cerinthian.     He  identi- 

iMaclaren,    "Expositions    of    Holy   Scripture,"  2   Corinthians, 

^'  ^Denney,  2  Corinthians,  p.  154.  .     .     „  ^  .'  ^  Cor.  iv.  5. 

*  So  Lightfoot.    Hort,  "  Judaistic  Christianity,"  fails  to  see  any  re- 
ference to  Gnosticism. 


lOO     THE  LIGHT   IN   THE  FACE   OF  JESUS 

fies  the  one  personality  whom  he  designates  "  Christ 
Jesus  "  as  also  "  Lord."  He  was  the  man  Jesus,  the 
Messiah  (Christ),  the  Lord  of  glory.  There  has  been 
a  curious  swinging  of  the  pendulum  among  certain 
theologians  through  the  ages  concerning  the  person 
of  Christ.  The  Ebionites  denied  the  deity  of  Jesus. 
The  Docetic  Gnostics  rejected  His  humanity. 
Paul  recognized  both  as  true  of  Christ  Jesus.  He  is 
to  Paul  the  God- man.  Is  this  reality  or  merely 
Paul's  interpretation?  Paul  did  not  originate  this 
interpretation.  The  other  apostles  had  so  under- 
stood Jesus.  Hear  Peter  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost : 
"  Let  all  the  house  of  Israel  know  assuredly  that  God 
hath  made  Him  both  Lord  and  Christ,  this  Jesus 
whom  ye  crucified."  *  If  one  begin  with  the  earHest 
known  sources  of  the  life  of  Christ  according  to 
modern  criticism,  either  Q  (the  Logia  of  Matthew) 
or  Mark's  Gospel,  he  will  find  Jesus  Christ  the  Lord 
of  glory  there.2  The  Christ  of  the  Synoptic  Gospels, 
of  Paul,  of  John,  of  Hebrews,  of  Peter,  of  James,  of 
the  Apocalypse  is  one  and  the  same;  Jesus  Christ 
the  same  yesterday  and  to-day  and  forever.^  The 
various  writers  of  the  New  Testament  approach  the 

*  Acts  ii.  36. 

'  Cf.  MuUins,  "  The  Modern  Issue  as  to  the  Person  of  Christ," 
Review  and  Expositor,  Jan.,  1911,  pp.  i4fF. 

8  See  this  argument  worked  out  with  great  ability  and  detail  by 
Warfield,  "  The  Lord  of  Glory  "  ;  Denney,  "  Jesus  and  the  Gospel  " ; 
Selbie,   «'  Aspects   of  Christ."      Biblical   Theology,   accenting   the 


THE  ATTRACTION  OF  CHRIST  lOI 

Study  of  Jesus  from  different  angles,  but  each  comes 
to  the  same  point  in  fact.  It  is  a  lame  conclusion  to 
which  Schweitzer  comes  in  his  "  Quest  of  the  Histor- 
ical Jesus."  After  long  rambles  through  the  mazes 
of  conflicting  critical  theories  he  says :  *'  He  comes 
to  us  as  One  unknown,  without  a  name,  as  of  old,  by 
the  lake-side,  He  came  to  those  men  who  knew  Him 
not."  *  None  are  so  blind  as  those  who  will  not  see. 
Men  come  to  Christ  to-day,  as  of  old,  with  their 
prejudices  and  their  philosophy  and  cannot  see  His 
glory  because  of  the  fog  around  their  own  heads. 
The  sun  shines  brightly  for  all  who  can  get  out  of 
the  fog.  The  very  "  greatness  of  Christ  "^  makes 
critical  interpretation  difficult  and  in  a  sense  impos- 
sible. It  is  hard  to  look  straight  at  the  sun.  But 
the  sun  shines  on  regardless  of  the  changing  theories 
about  light  and  the  spots  in  the  sun.  "  The  Life  of 
Christ  in  Recent  Research  "  ^  is  an  interesting  topic, 
as  is  "  The  Place  of  Christ  in  Modern  Theology."  ^ 
We  must  use  freely  and  frankly  our  reason  and  all 
light  from  every  source  for  the  interpretation  of 
Jesus  Christ.  We  have  nothing  to  fear.  Evolution 
"  has   set  Christ  in  a  new  hght.     Confined  within 

variations  in  the  New  Testament,  and  criticism  of  the  sources  have 
thus  combined  greatly  to  strengthen  the  argument  for  the  truth  of 
Paul's  view  of  Jesus. 

1  P.  401. 

«  Forsyth,  "  Person  and  Place  of  Jesus  Christ,"  pp.  63  ff. 

>  Sanday.  ■*  Fairbairn. 


I02      THE  LIGHT  IN  THE  FACE  OF  JESUS 

human  limits,  He  is  the  stultification  of  the  calcula- 
tions of  evolutionists,  viewed  as  our  moral  natures 
direct  us  to  view  Him,  He  is  the  goal  and  crown  of 
the  evolutionary  process  in  the  history  of  man."  *  It 
is  a  curious  controversy  that  has  arisen  around  the 
phrase  "  Jesus  or  Christ "  and  that  appears  in  The 
Hibbert  Journal  Supplement?  But  at  any  rate  one 
can  get  here  all  sides  of  the  problem.  The  point 
with  Rev.  R.  Roberts,  who  started  the  discussion,  is 
that  Jesus  as  an  historical  character  is  one  thing,  the 
Christ  of  tradition  quite  another.  It  is  assumed  that 
criticism  has  disposed  of  the  connection  between 
Jesus  and  Christ.  Criticism  has  done  nothing  of  the 
kind.  Some  critics  deny  the  historicity  of  Jesus 
altogether.  In  Germany  there  is  a  controversy  over 
the  historical  reality  of  Jesus.^  Other  critics  admit 
the  reality  of  Jesus,  and  make  Christ  a  matter  of 
faith.  Others  reject  the  Christ  entirely  and  see  only 
a  good  man  named  Jesus  who  is  our  example  to- 
day. Others  admit  the  existence  of  Jesus,  and,  like 
Nietzsche,  rail  at  Him  as  the  curse  of  the  race  by 
reason  of  the  limitations  on  self-indulgence  which  He 
has  imposed  on  the  "  super-man."  But  most  of  the 
ablest  critics  in  the  world  still  joyfully  see  in  Jesus 

1  G.  A.  Johnston  Ross,  "  Religionist  and  Scientist  "  in  "  Religion 
and  the  Modern  W^orld,"  p,  14.  s  For  1909. 

3Cf.  Biblische  Zeitschrift,  1910,  S.  415-17,  for  bibliography  of 
this  discussion;  also  American  Journal  of  Theology,  Jan.,  191 1. 


THE  ATTRACTION   OF  CHRIST  103 

Christ  what  Paul  saw,  the  man  Christ  Jesus  as  the 
Lord    of    glory.   Son    of    God   and   Son   of   Man. 
"  Therefore,  not  *  away  from  Paul  and  back  to  Jesus,' 
but  rather  as  one '  of  his  recent  apologists  puts  it, 
*  Back   through  Paul  to  Jesus  and  to  God.' "  ^     To 
Paul  Jesus  was  and  is  Lord  of  life,  the  very  power 
of  God  at  work  among  men.^     When  Ecce  Homo 
first  appeared  many  feared  to  look  at  this  bold  and 
brilliant   picture   of  the  earthly  hfe  of  Jesus.     But 
now   we   can   come  back  from  the  fuller  study  of 
"the   days   of   His   flesh"  to   a   richer  knowledge 
of  His   heavenly   glory.     We   see  no   conflict   be- 
tween the  "  Christ   of  History    and   Experience."  ^ 
But    one    must    have    the    experience    before    he 
is     really    qualified    to    study    the    history.      The 
alternative  "  Jesus  or  Christ "  exists  only  for  those 
who  have   never   learned   by  experience  "what   is 
the  riches  of  the  glory  of  this  mystery  among  the 
Gentiles,   which    is    Christ    in    you,   the    hope    of 
glory."  ^    To   Paul   Christ  is  the  mystery  of   God,« 
"  for  in  Him  dwelleth  all  the  fullness  of  the  God- 
head bodily."  7 


1  A.  Meyer,  Jesus  oder  Paulus,  S.  104, 

«  George  Milligan,  "  Paulinism  and  the  Religion  of  Jesus "  in 
«  Religion  and  the  Modern  World,"  p.  253. 

8  Col.  i.  15-17;  cf.  Selbie,  «  Aspects  of  Christ,"  p.  88. 

*  Forrest.  ^  Col.  i.  27.  «  Col.  ii.  2. 

■J  Col.  ii.  9.  «  The  Christ  of  To-day  "  (G.  Campbell  Morgan)  is 
the  Christ  of  Paul. 


I04      THE  LIGHT  IN   THE  FACE  OF  JESUS 

5.  The  Gospel  of  the  Glory  of  Christ 
This  is  Paul's  Christology :  "  The  hght  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  the  glory  of  Christ."  *  He  speaks  twice  in 
Romans  ^  of  "  My  Gospel."  He  means  by  that 
phrase  his  interpretation  of  Christ,  "  the  Gospel  of 
Christ."  ^  Paul  had  a  definite  message  about  Jesus 
to  preach  to  men.  It  is  seen  in  its  fullest  expression 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  but  it  is  found  with 
more  or  less  fullness  in  all  his  writings.  There  is 
little  excuse  for  any  man,  minister  or  not,  to  take  the 
time  and  attention  of  others,  if  he  has  not  made  up 
his  mind  about  Jesus  Christ.  No  message  of  doubt 
or  negation  will  benefit  the  soul  sick  with  sin  and 
battling  with  temptation.  Paul  felt  that  he  had  the 
right  to  speak  just  because  of  his  actual  knowledge 
of  Jesus  Christ  who  had  revealed  Himself  in  him.^ 
He  knew  the  Gospel  of  Christ.^  Paul  felt  that  a  high 
and  holy  trust  was  given  to  him.  He  told  Timothy 
of  "  the  Gospel  of  the  glory  of  the  blessed  God  which 
was  committed  to  my  trust."  ^  "  To  catch  but  a 
passing  vision  of  the  glory  of  God  is  to  burn  forever 
afterwards  with  a  zeal  to  make  it  known."  ^  No  one 
could  deceive  him  with  a  different  message.  He  has 
only   irony   for   those   who   put  up   with  "  another 

*  2  Cor.  iv.  4  ;  cf.  iv.  6.  '  Rom.  ii.  16  ;  xvi,  25. 

"Rom,  XV.  19.  4  Gal.  i.  16,  »  Gal.  i.  6-10. 

«  2  Tim.  i.  II  ;  cf.  Gal.  ii.  7. 
'  Greenough,  "  The  Mind  of  Christ  in  St.  Paul,"  p.  14. 


THE   ATTRACTION   OF   CHRIST  I05 

Jesus,"  "  a  different  spirit,"  "  a  different  Gospel."  '  It 
fs  only  about  the  most  tremendous  things  in  life  that 
Paul  has  such  a  strong  word.  He  is  the  exponent  of 
freedom  for  the  Gentile  Christians  from  the  bondage 
of  Judaism.  *'  For  freedom  did  Christ  set  us  free."  ^ 
But  liberty  is  not  license.  To  give  up  Christ  is  to 
give  up  liberty  and  have  either  the  slavery  of  license 
or  the  bondage  of  the  letter.  Paul  is  here  an  ex- 
ample for  the  modern  minister  in  the  firm  grasp  of 
the  essential  truth  in  Christ  with  the  utmost  liberality 
in  all  other  matters.  The  preacher  to-day  has  to  sail 
between  the  Scylla  of  traditionalism  and  the  Charyb- 
dis  of  radicalism.  But  Paul  kept  his  eye  on  Christ. 
There  is  no  better  interpreter  of  Jesus  Christ  than 
Paul.^  He  grew  in  his  apprehension  of  Christ,^  as 
can  be  seen  by  reading  his  Epistles  in  probable 
chronological  order.^  But  he  never  got  away  from 
his  early  conception  of  Jesus  as  the  Redeemer  and 
of  salvation  by  grace  through  faith.^  There  is  a  dis- 
tinct "  mental  growth "  ^  perceptible  in  Paul  as  he 


1 2  Cor.  xi.  4.  3  Gal.  v.  i. 

3  See  DuBose,  "  The  Gospel  According  to  St.  Paul  "  ;  Bruce, 
"  St.  Paul's  Conception  of  Christianity  "  ;  Somerville,  "  St.  Paul's 
Conception  of  Christ  "  ;  Stevens,  "  Pauline  Theology  "  ;  Dykes, 
«'  The  Gospel  According  to  St.  Paul  "  ;  Anonymous,  "  The  Fifth 
Gospel,  The  Pauline  Interpretation." 

^  See  Matheson,  "  Spiritual  Development  of  St.  Paul  ";  Sabatier, 
«'  The  Apostle  Paul." 

5  Robertson,  "  Students'  Chronological  New  Testament." 

fi  Acts  xiii,  38  f. 

'  Fairbairn,  "  Studies  in  Religion  and  Theology,"  p.  535. 


Io6      THE   LIGHT   IN  THE  FACE  OF  JESUS 

grapples  with  the  greatest  questions  ever  brought 
before  the  human  mind.  He  became  the  greatest 
intellectual  expounder  of  Christ  in  all  history.  He 
is  that  to-day.  He  had  "  the  light  of  the  Gospel  of 
the  glory  of  Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God."  *  He 
was  able  "  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."^  The 
"  light "  ^  was  an  illumination  of  Paul's  own  inner 
man.     It  filled  the  whole  horizon  of  his  Hfe. 

6.  W/io  Shined  in  Our  Hearts 
With  Paul  this  was  the  beginning  of  everything 
when  God  shone  in  his  heart.  He  has  in  the  words, 
*'  Light  shall  shine  out  of  darkness,"  ^  a  reference  to 
Genesis  i.  3.^  "  It  is  the  proclamation  of  a  second  Fiat 
Lux  in  the  hearts  of  men."  ^  Jesus  was  the  Light  of 
the  world  in  the  cosmic  creative  sense  in  the  begin- 
ning.7  "  The  life  was  the  light  of  men.  And  the 
light  shineth  in  the  darkness ;  and  the  darkness  over- 
came it  not."  ^  The  darkness  could  not  put  out  the 
Light  in  the  terrific  conflict  that  ensued.  But  men 
became  so  used  to  the  darkness  that  they  could  not 
see  when  the  light  came.  "  I  am  come  a  light  into 
the  world  ;  "  ^  "  I  am  the  light  of  the  world."  '"    "  And 

1  2  Cor.  iv.  4.  2  2  Cor.  iv.  6. 

'  The  word  occurs  nowhere  else  in  the  New  Testament. 
*  2  Cor.  iv.  6.  5  cf,  Ps.  xcii.  4,  « Bernard,  in  loco. 

">  Cf.  John  i.  3  f. ;  Col.  i.  16  f.  8  John  i.  4  f. ;  cf.  John  xii.  35. 

9  John  xii.  46.  w  John  viii.  12. 


THE  ATTRACTION  OF  CHRIST  107 

this  is  the  judgment,  that  the  hght  is  come  into  the 
world,  and  men  loved  the  darkness  rather  than  the 
light,  for  their  works  were  evil."  ^  "  Look  therefore 
whether  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  not  darkness."  ^ 
Isaiah  had  foreseen  the  glory  of  Christ  and  that, 
when  He  came,  men's  eyes  would  be  blinded  so  that 
they  could  not  see  the  light.^  Paul  has  lived  to  see 
the  sad  fulfillment  of  this  prophecy,  **  The  god  of 
this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  the  unbelieving, 
that  the  light  of  the  Gospel  of  the  glory  of  Christ, 
who  is  the  image  of  God,  should  not  dawn  upon 
them."  *  It  was  like  daybreak  ^  in  any  heart  when 
God  let  the  Light  in  the  face  of  Jesus  shine  in.  The 
word  of  prophecy  was  well  in  its  place.  It  was  like 
"  a  lamp  shining  in  a  dark  place."  ^  It  is  a  squalid,^ 
dirty,  dark  place.  In  a  dungeon  a  lamp  is  a  blessing 
of  untold  comfort.  But  the  lamp  was  of  special  use 
only  **  until  the  day  dawn,  and  the  day-star  arise  in 
your  hearts."  ^  The  "  light-bringing  "  star  has  arisen 
in  our  hearts.  It  is  daybreak  in  our  souls.  We  no 
longer  need  the  lamp.  God  "  shined  in  our  hearts."  ^ 
This  is  the  fundamental  fact  with  Paul,  as  with  all 
disciples  of  Jesus.     "  In  that  face  which  flashed  upon 

>  John  iii.  19.  2  Luke  xii.  35. 

'  John  xii.  40  f. ;  Isa.  vi.  lO.  *  2  Cor.  iv.  4. 

«  Cf.  Rev.  xxi.  21.  8  2  Peter  i.  19. 

'  Here  only  in  the  New  Testament. 

8  Day-star  here  only  in  the  New  Testament. 

'  Cf.  Lietzmann,  Handbuch  zum  JV.  7",,  2  Kor.,  S.  182. 


I08      THE  LIGHT  IN   THE  FACE  OF  JESUS 

him  by  Damascus  twenty  years  before,  he  had  seen, 
and  always  saw,  all  that  man  could  see  of  the  in- 
visible God.  It  represented  for  him,  and  all  to  whom 
he  preached,  the  Sovereignty  and  the  Redeeming 
Love  of  God,  as  completely  as  man  could  understand 
them." '  He  could  not  indeed  see  for  the  glory  of 
that  light  which  made  the  noonday  sun  dim  by  com- 
parison.2  But  henceforth  he  could  see  naught  else 
but  the  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus.  This  to  him  was 
the  sheet-anchor  of  his  faith,  hope,  theology,  life. 
'*  I  know  Him  whom  I  have  believed."  ^  Others 
might  or  might  not  know  Jesus  Christ.  That  did 
not  affect  Paul  in  the  least.  He  is  now  crucified 
with  Christ.  "  And  it  is  no  longer  I  that  live,  but 
Christ  liveth  in  me."  ^  The  key-word  of  Paul's  life 
is  "  in  Christ."  Into  this  mystic  phrase  Paul  pours 
all  the  content  of  his  life  and  thought  about  Christ.*^ 
Paul  grounds  his  apologetic  in  his  own  experience. 
That  is  scientific  and  modern  as  well,  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  evolutionary  principle.  It  is  no 
longer  possible  to  ridicule  Christian  experience  as 
something  abnormal  and  distorted.  William  James  * 
did  a  great  service  to  the  world  in  showing  the  scien- 


*  Denney,  2  Corinthians,  p.  153.  '  Acts  xxii,  11 ;  xxvi.  13. 

3  2  Tim.  i.  12.  •iGal,  ii.  20. 

6  Cf.  Campbell,  "  Paul  the  Mystic  "  ;  Deissmann,  "  Die  Neutesta 
menlliclie  Forme)  in  Christo." 

«*  "  Varieties  in  Religious  Experience." 


THE  ATTRACTION  OF  CHRIST  109 

tific  aspect  of  religious  experience.  With  Paul  it 
was  an  illumination  ^  which  shed  hght  into  the  secret 
places  of  his  heart  and  Hfe.  Christ  is  the  true  light 
who  gives  all  the  real  light  that  any  man  has.^ 
Those  who  had  once  for  alP  been  enlightened  could 
never  forget  that  experience  and  were  ready  to  en- 
dure much  conflict.*  Jesus  had  brought  to  light  Hfe 
and  immortality  through  the  Gospel  for  all  those  who 
had  the  eyes  of  their  hearts  enlightened.^  The  image 
is  a  favourite  one  in  the  New  Testament.  John  pic- 
tures heaven  as  needing  no  sun  nor  moon,  "  for  the 
glory  of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  lamp  thereof  is 
the  Lamb."  ^  The  dynamic  of  the  Cross  is  central 
in  Paul's  mind.^  He  does  not  mean  that  his  own 
case  is  peculiar  in  this  respect.  The  rather,  he 
argues  that,  if  God  could  save  him  through  Christ, 
no  one  need  despair.^  It  is  just  because  Jesus  can 
save  the  worst  of  men  that  the  preacher  has  the 
heart  and  hope  to  go  on  with  his  work.  The  self- 
conscious  religionist  often  rejects  Christ  when  the 
vilest  sinners  joyfully  repent  and  put  the  "  righteous  " 
to  shame.^    "  The  adequacy  of  the  Christian  redemp- 


J  Cf.  Eph.  i.  18.  2  John  i.  9.  ^  Heb.  vi.  4. 

*  Heb.  vi.  32. 

5  2  Tim.  i.  10  ;  Eph.  i.  18.  ^  Rev.  xxi.  23;  xxii.  5. 

'  Cf.  Clow,  "  The  Cross  and  Christian  Experience." 
8  Cf.  2  Tim.  i.  14-16. 

^  Luke  V.   30  f.  Cf.  Begbie,  "  Twice-born   Men,"  and  "  Souls  in 
Action." 


no      THE   LIGHT   IN   THE   FACE  OF  JESUS 

tion  lies  in  its  power  to  meet  this  primal  need  by  re- 
moving the  misery  and  guilt  of  sin."  * 

7.  For  Jesus'  Sake 
"  For  we  preach  not  ourselves."  ^  That  is  the 
poorest  theme  ever  taken  by  a  preacher,  himself.  It 
is  bad  homiletics  as  well  as  bad  religion  when  a 
preacher  is  full  of  himself,  for  he  is  sure  to  reveal  it 
in  numberless  ways.  Paul  is  ironical  towards  the 
Judaizers  in  Corinth  who  "  commend  themselves ; 
but  they  themselves,  measuring  themselves  by  them- 
selves, and  comparing  themselves  with  themselves, 
are  without  understanding."  ^  They  are  the  standard 
and  are  always  right.  They  always  come  up  to  the 
standard,  viz.,  themselves.  Paul  here  evidently  has 
them  in  mind.  They  do  preach  themselves.  It  is 
probably  true  that  most  ecclesiastical  schisms  have 
had  their  origin  in  personal  jealousies  and  bickerings. 
And  yet  while  "  Christ  Jesus  as  Lord  "  is  the  theme 
of  Paul's  preaching,  he  does  in  one  sense  preach 
himself — "  and  ourselves  as  your  servants  for  Jesus' 
sake."^  He  was  the  slave  of  Christ  and  the  slave  ^ 
of  his  brethren.  It  was  much  for  this  proud-spirited 
man  so  to  describe  himself.     But  this  is  the  spirit  of 


» "  Final  Christianity,"  by  D.  MacFadyen,  in  "  Mansfield  College 
Essays,"  p,  211. 
»  2  Cor.  iv.  5.       3  2  Cor.  x.  12.      *2  Cor.  iv.  5.      ^  Bond-slave. 


THE  ATTRACTION  OF  CHRIST  III 

Jesus,  service  to  others.'     It  was  for  this  purpose  that 
the  hght  had  come  into  his  own  heart  "  to  give  the 
Ught  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face 
of  Jesus  Christ."  ^     He  had  faced  Christ  and  must  re- 
flect the  glory  of  that  Face  to  others  in  darkness.     He 
was  to  pass  on  the  light.    Paul  knew  "  The  Passion  for 
Souls"  3  "for    Jesus'    Sake."      Matheson    describes 
the   Twelve   Apostles  of  Jesus  as  "  His  league  of 
pity."*     That  is  a  fit  characterization  of  ministers 
of  Christ.     The  hunger  of  the  heart  is  for  Christ. 
Men  know  it  after  they  have  found  Him.     The  need 
of  the  preacher  is  just  this.     He  has  his  vision  of  the 
Face  of  Christ.     He  must  turn  the  man  without  the 
vision  to  Christ.     The  Greeks  came  to  Philip  with  a 
pathetic    inquiry :     "  Sir,    we    would    see    Jesus." « 
Strange   to   say  PhiHp  did    not  introduce   them  to 
Jesus.     He  went  instead  to  Andrew.     Together  they 
could   not  unravel  the  problem  and  brought  it  to 
Jesus.     It  touched  the  heart  of  Christ  in  the  centre. 
The  Cross  came  before  His   mind  at  once.     Thus 
alone  would  Gentiles  be  able  to  come  to  Him,  for 
thus  would  the  middle  wall  of  partition  between  Jew 
and  Gentile  and  both  and  God  be  broken  down.^ 
The   modern   minister   stands   beside  the  matchless 
portrait  of  Jesus  Christ  and  hears  the  same  cry  from  the 

1  Matt.  XX.  28.  «  2  Cor.  iv.  6.  3  j.  H.  Jowett. 

4  «  Studies  of  the  Portrait  of  Christ,"  Vol.  II,  p.  83.  . 

5Johnxii.2i.  6Eph.ii. 


112      THE  LIGHT   IN   THE   FACE  OF  JESUS 

masses  :  "  Sir,  we  would  see  Jesus."  It  is  not  enough 
just  to  be  willing  "  to  speak  a  gude  word  for  Jesus 
Christ,"  though  that  is  much.  One  must  be  able  to 
interpret  that  Picture  to  modern  men.  But  first  he 
must  himself  really  see  the  Face  of  Christ,  else  his 
talk  is  sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbal.  Paul 
has  soared  high.  "  No  one  ever  soared  so  high  on 
borrowed  wings."  * 

1  Denney,  **  Jesus  and  the  Gospel,"  p.  3S. 


IV 

WITH  OPEN  FACE— THE  PREACHER'S 
PRIVILEGE 

{2  Cor.  Hi.  ly-iv.  ^) 

"  We  all,  with  unveiled  face,  beholding 
as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord," 

— 2  Cor.  Hi.  18. 


IV 

WITH  OPEN  FACE—THE  PREACHER'S 
PRIVILEGE 

THE  "  open  face  "  is  really  the  "  unveiled 
face."  *  It  is  in  sharp  contrast  with  Moses 
who  put  a  veil  over  his  face.  By  "  we  all '' 
Paul  means  all  Christians,  though  the  argument  is 
specifically  applied  to  ministers  of  the  Gospel: 
"  Therefore  seeing  we  have  this  ministry."  ^  It  is 
the  privilege  of  all  believers ;  it  is  preeminently  true 
of  the  preacher,  not  because  of  office  or  rank,  but 
because  of  necessity  he  is  constantly  brought  face  to 
face  with  God  in  Christ.  The  minister  has  his 
"  Holy  of  Holies  "  with  Christ. 

I.  Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  Is 
One  naturally  thinks  of  a  church  by  the  use  of 
this  phrase.  ^  Some  churches  are  narrow  and  reac- 
tionary, tied  to  mere  tradition.  But  Paul  seems  here 
to  have  in  mind  the  minister  himself.  The  man  into 
whose  heart  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  has  come  has 
freedom  from  fear  that  the  glory  will  die  away  as 

1  There  is  thus  a  direct  reference  to  iii.  7,  13. 

'  2  Cor.  iv.  I.  •  2  Cor.  iii.  17. 

"5 


Il6  WITH   OPEN  FACE 

with  Moses.  He  is  emancipated  from  anxiety  that 
the  people  will  not  give  him  a  proper  degree  of 
honour.  He  is  not  concerned  about  the  amount 
of  recognition  which  is  accorded  him  at  public  func- 
tions. He  has  liberty,  as  Christ's  freeman,  from  the 
bondage  of  the  letter  (condemnation,  death).  His 
is  a  ministry  of  the  Spirit  because  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  has  command  of  his  heart  and  life.  The  Spirit- 
filled  minister  is  empty  of  fear.  There  is  no  veil 
upon  his  face.  Hence  he  has  uninterrupted  fellow- 
ship with  Jesus  and  with  the  people.  He  is  able  to 
see  "  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God 
in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ  "  as  well  as  to  "  give  "  it 
to  others.  Dr.  Sanday  *  is  patient  with  the  Ritschlian 
type  of  "  reduced  Christianity  "  since  it  is  that  much 
positive  gain  over  mere  negation.  Ritschlianism  is 
proudly  independent  of  historical  facts  and  professes 
content  with  giving  Jesus  the  "  worth  "  of  God  as  a 
practical  matter.  He  very  probably  was  not  God  in 
any  metaphysical  ontological  sense  according  to  this 
view,  but  one  may  find  comfort  in  treating  Him  so. 
That  is  at  bottom  a  make-believe  doctrine  and  un- 
worthy of  the  great  issue  involved.^  The  concession 
of  Dr.  Sanday  about  the  subliminal  self  as  the  locus 
of  the   divine  nature  of  Jesus   is  already  urged  as 

* "  Christologies,  Ancient  and  Modern." 
9  Cf.  Orr.  «'  Ritschlianism." 


THE  PREACHER'S  PRIVILEGE  II7 

making  Dr.  Sanday  more  of  a  Ritschlian  than  he 
thinks/  since  it  does  not  demand  the  Virgin  Birth. 
But  Paul  does  not  here  mean  the  Hcense  of  a  half- 
hearted Christianity.  That  is  after  all  the  bondage 
of  doubt  and  fear.  It  is  love  that  makes  us  really 
free  to  do  right.  "  Love  makes  the  choice  easy. 
Love  makes  the  face  of  duty  beautiful.  Love  makes 
it  sweet  to  keep  up  with  Christ.  Love  makes  the 
service  of  goodness  freedom."  ^  This  hberty  in  serv- 
ice is  to  Paul  the  distinguishing  feature  of  Christi- 
anity.^ He  has  no  notion  of  giving  it  up  "  because 
of  the  false  brethren  privily  brought  in,  who  came  in 
privily  to  spy  out  our  liberty  which  we  have  in  Christ 
Jesus,  that  they  may  bring  us  into  bondage."  ^  There 
are  always  on  hand  some  men  who  feel  called  to  slip 
a  noose  on  the  neck  of  God's  freemen,  but  Paul 
would  wear  no  man's  yoke  but  that  of  Christ.  "  If 
therefore  the  Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be 
free  indeed."  ^  Jesus  put  it  also  thus :  "  Ye  shall 
know  the  truth  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free."  ^ 
The  only  real  emancipation  is  in  the  truth,  and  Jesus 
is  the  truth.  Paul  is  no  blind  obscurantist.  He 
glories  in  his  freedom  from  the  fetters  of  Pharisaism. 
In  Christ  he  faces  the  whole  world  and  all  fact  and 

1  Shailer  Matthews,  American  Journal  of  Theology,  Jan.,  1910, 
p.  136. 

2  Greenough,  "The  Mind  of  Christ  in  St.  Paul,"  p.  216. 

8  Ibid.t  p.  39.         *  Gal.  ii.  4.      ^  John  viii.  36.      «  John  viii.  32. 


Il8  WITH  OPEN  FACE 

truth  with  open  eye  and  eager  heart.  No  one  has 
anything  Hke  the  Hberty  of  the  man  whose  mind  is 
opened  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  Some  Christians, 
some  ministers,  are  in  truth  mere  traditionahsts,  ob- 
scurantists afraid  of  the  Hght.  But  that  is  not  what 
should  be  nor  what  is  meant  to  be  by  the  Spirit  of 
Christ.  There  are  reactionaries  in  medicine,  science, 
law,  business,  every  calling  of  life.  Certainly  the 
man  who  refuses  to  face  all  the  facts  of  the  spiritual 
life  in  Christ  is  not  free.  Such  freedom  is  only  possi- 
ble where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is.  "  The  Lord  is  the 
Spirit "  hardly  means  simple  identification  of  Jesus 
and  the  Spirit.  The  thought  is  not  so  simple  as 
that.  It  is  rather  Christ  manifesting  Himself  through 
His  Spirit  who  is  the  great  teacher  and  interpreter 
of  Christ  to  men.  The  minister  who  is  Christ's  slave 
is  the  real  freeman,  free  to  look  God  and  man  full  in 
the  face  with  open  heart  and  upright  purpose.  The 
Christian  minister  is  to  expound  principles,  not  mere 
rules.  There  is  the  utmost  frankness  in  his  attitude 
and  life.  The  veil  has  been  taken  away  from  his 
face.  The  people  are  not  afraid  to  come  close  to 
him  as  they  were  with  Moses.^  The  Christian  minis- 
try is  thus  3  a  "  spiritual  "  ministry,  a  "  Hfe-giving  " 
ministry,  a  "  bold  "  ministry.    "  Ours  should  be  a 

>  2  Cor.  iii.  i6.  '  Ex.  xxxiv.  30. 

3  F.  W.  Robertson,  «  Life  and  Letters,"  etc.,  p.  624  f. 


THE  PREACHER'S  PRIVILEGE  II9 

ministry  whose  words  are  not  compacted  of  baldness, 
but  boldness ;  whose  very  life  is  outspokenness,  and 
free  fearlessness ;  a  ministry  which  has  no  conceal- 
ment, no  reserve ;  which  scorns  to  take  a  via  media 
because  it  is  safe  in  the  eyes  of  the  world ;  which 
shrinks  from  the  weakness  of  mere  cautiousness,  but 
which  exults  even  in  failure,  if  the  truth  has  been 
spoken,  with  a  joyful  confidence.  For  a  man  who 
sees  into  the  heart  of  things  speaks  out  not  timidly, 
nor  superstitiously,  but  with  a  brow  unveiled,  and 
with  a  speech  as  free  as  his  spirit :  *  The  truth  has 
made  him  free.'  "  '  Paul  is  so  free  from  narrowness 
and  jealousy  that  he  rejoices  when  Christ  is  preached 
even  though  the  motive  may  be  envy  of  Paul  (Phil. 
i.  17  f.)  or  mere  pretense. 

2.  Transformation 
This  freedom  of  the  Christian  is  no  mere  theory 
with  Paul.  He  can  proudly  appeal  to  the  experience 
of  all  real  disciples,  preachers  and  all,  in  contrast  to 
the  Jews  under  the  Mosaic  dispensation.  "  We  all, 
with  unveiled  face,  are  transformed  into  the  same 
image."  ^     There  is  doubt  whether  here  Paul  means 

1  F.  W.  Robertson,  «  Life  and  Letters,"  etc.,  p.  675.     Cf.  Words- 
worth ; 

"  While  with  an  eye  made  quiet  by  the  power 
Of  harmony  and  the  deep  power  of  joy 
We  see  into  the  life  of  things." 
a  2  Cor.  iii.  18. 


I20  WITH   OPEN   FACE 

"  beholding  in  a  mirror  "  or  "  reflecting  as  a  mirror."  ^ 
The  analogy  of  i  Corinthians  xiii.  12:  "For  now 
we  see  in  a  mirror,  darkly ;  but  then  face  to  face " 
argues  for  "  beholding."  ^  It  is  true  that  we  shall  not 
look  Christ  fully  in  the  face  till  we  meet  Him  in  glory 
when  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.^  But  even  Moses 
had  no  veil  on  his  face  as  he  beheld  the  glory  of 
God  and  it  can  hardly  be  a  mere  indirect  look  at 
Christ  that  Paul  has  in  mind.  He  expressly  men- 
tions *'  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."  It  is  doubtless 
true,  however,  that  this  word  is  to  be  thus  translated 
here,  since  Paul  in  this  context  has  both  ideas  in 
mind.  All  believers  have  free  access  to  the  Face  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Glory  and  Image  of  God.  It  is  no 
mere  contemplation  of  the  moral  beauty  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  that  fills  the  vision  of  Paul.  No  mere  his- 
torical study  of  the  facts  in  the  earthly  life  of  Jesus 
will  suffice  to  work  this  transformation  in  the  heart 
and  life.  The  transformation  is  wrought  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  the  heart  that,  free  from  the  veil,  is 
in  actual  touch  with  Christ  the  Lord  of  glory.^ 
There  is  contemplation  of  the  glory  of  Christ,  trans- 
formation into  the  glory  of  Christ,  final  assimilation 

*  Only  here  in  the  New  Testament. 

2  So  in  Philo,  Le,s^.  All.  iii.  33,  a  comment  on  Ex.  xxxiii.  18. 
The  active  means  to  mirror  or  reflect,  while  the  middle  voice,  as 
here,  means  to  behold  in  a  mirror,  Cf.  Bernard,  in  loco;  Meyer,  in 
loco  ;  Bachmann,  in  loco^  for  discussion  of  the  details. 

*  I  John  iii.  2.  ■»  Denney,  2  Corinthians,  p.  140  f. 


THE  PREACHER'S   PRIVILEGE  121 

into  the  glory  of  Christ.*  The  word  for  "  transfor- 
mation "  ^  is  a  remarkable  one.  It  is  the  word  used  of 
the  glory  of  Christ  at  the  Transfiguration.  It  is 
then  a  transfiguration  which  we  are  undergoing.  It 
is  the  present  tense  and  the  act  is  represented  as  a 
process.  The  new  life  in  Christ  begins  with  a  look 
as  the  heart  turns  to  Him.  It  grows  by  looking  also, 
steadily  bathing  in  the  glory  of  the  Sun  of  righteous- 
ness. "  In  spiritual  sight,  the  soul  which  beholds  is 
a  mirror."  ^  What  seems  like  an  impossibility  van- 
ishes when  we  consider  that  it  is  the  glory  of  God  in 
Christ  that  Paul  has  in  mind  and  that  the  seeing 
takes  place  by  the  eye  of  faith,  the  eye  of  the  soul.^ 
It  is  true  that,  as  contrasted  with  the  final  vision  of 
Christ,  we  now  see  through  a  mirror  darkly.  "  But 
nothing  intervenes  between  my  Lord  and  me,  when 
I  love  and  trust."  ^  The  reahty  of  this  spiritual  per- 
ception of  Christ  is  witnessed  by  millions  of  believers 
in  all  the  ages  since  Paul  wrote  these  words.  To 
many  Jesus  Christ  is  the  most  real  person  in  the 
universe.  "  The  whole  tendency  of  modern  thought 
is  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  personality.  Per- 
sonality is  the  predominant  factor  in  history  and  in 


*  Maclaren,  "  Expositions  of  Holy  Scripture,  "  in  loco. 

'Cf.  Matt.  xvii.  2. 

'  Maclaren,  "  Expositions  of  Holy  Scripture,  "  in  loco. 

4  Ibid. 

^Ibid, 


122  WITH   OPEN   FACE 

life."^  Jesus  had  definitely  laid  hold  on  ^  Paul. 
Henceforth  to  "  gain  Christ,"  to  "  know  Him,"  to 
learn  "  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus  my  Lord,"  all  this  was  the  "  one  thing  "  which 
consumed  his  soul,  the  single  goal  of  his  Hfe-am- 
bition.3  A  minister,  to  whom  this  experience  of 
Christ  is  unknown,  cannot  be  considered  qualified 
to  tell  men  about  Jesus.  He  must  himself  be  trans- 
figured by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  have  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  in  him,^  if  he  hopes  to  see  others  transfigured 
by  his  hfe  and  words.  This  spiritual  appropriation 
is  the  first  result  of  contact  with  Christ.  This  is  to 
"  eat "  ^  Christ,  to  "  see  "  the  Face  of  Christ,  to  "  be- 
hold "  His  glory,  to  become  like  Him,  even  as  Moses 
had  the  glory  of  God  upon  him.  There  is  no  magic 
about  it.  There  is  mysticism,  indeed,  for  religion  is 
mysticism.  It  is  the  vital  touch  of  the  human  spirit 
by  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  Thus  the  vision  of  Christ 
comes  to  the  soul.  Thus  the  vision  is  continued. 
The  Gospels,  the  Acts,  the  Epistles,  the  Apocalypse, 
the  work  of  Christ  in  the  hearts  of  men,  the  work  of 
Christ  in  our  own  hearts — these  are  all  mirrors  to 
help  us  see  the  glory  of  Christ.*' 
3.  Reflection 
As  we  have  already  seen,  there  is  no  doubt  that 

«  Richard  Brook,   The  Interpreter,  Jan.,  1911,  art,  "  The  Living 
Christ  and  the  Christian  Life."       «  Phil.  iii.  12.      3  Phil.  iii.  8-14. 
<  Rom.  viii.  9.  e  John  vi.  57.  e  cf.  Bachraann,  in  loco. 


THE  preacher's  PRIVILEGE  1 23 

this  context  calls  for  "  reflecting  as  a  mirror  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  "  as  an  implied  idea  however  Paul 
meant  the  precise  word  here  employed.  Stanley^ 
holds  that  "  Christians  having,  hke  Moses,  received 
in  their  lives  the  reflected  glory  of  the  divine 
presence,  as  Moses  received  it  on  his  countenance, 
are  unlike  Moses  in  that  they  have  no  fear,  such  as 
his,  of  its  vanishing  away,  but  are  confident  of  its 
continuing  to  shine  in  them  with  increasing  lustre." 
The  Christian  puts  on  no  veil  for  he  has  nothing  to 
conceal.  His  life  is  an  open  book  to  the  world.  He 
does  not,  indeed,  claim  that  his  life  is  perfect,  but 
that  there  is  at  least  a  reflection,  however  dim,  of  the 
real  spirit  and  power  of  Christ,  his  Lord.  "  There 
is  no  reflection  of  the  light  without  a  previous  re- 
ception of  the  light.  In  bodily  sight,  the  eye  is  a 
mirror,  and  there  is  no  sight  without  an  image  of  the 
thing  perceived  being  formed  in  the  perceiving  eye."  ^ 
Chrysostom  compares  the  influence  of  the  light  of 
Christ  on  us  to  polished  silver  lying  in  the  sunshine 
and  sending  back  the  rays  which  strike  it.^  He  says, 
"  We  not  only  look  upon  the  glory  of  God,  but  also 
catch  thence  a  kind  of  radiance."  ^  But,  at  any  rate, 
reflection  is  an  inevitable  result  of  transformation.® 


1 2  Corinthians,  in  loco. 

'  Maclaren,  "  Expositions  of  Holy  Scripture,"  in  loco. 

'  Denney,  2  Corinthians,  in  loco.  *  Horn.  VII  on  2  C<K» 

*Denney,  in  loco. 


124  WITH   OPEN   FACE 

If  we  behold  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  we  are  trans- 
formed into  the  image  of  what  we  behold.  If  we 
are  transformed,  we  reflect  that  image.  There  is  no 
veil  to  prevent  the  glory  from  being  seen,  if  only  the 
glory  is  there  to  be  seen.  It  is  a  severe  test  to  which 
the  Apostle  John  calls  us  when  he  says :  "  He  that 
saith  he  abideth  in  Him  ought  himself  also  to  walk 
even  as  He  walked." '  But  it  is  the  test  to  which  we 
have  to  submit.  In  particular,  ministers  of  the  Gos- 
pel cannot  refuse  to  be  held  up  to  the  light  which 
they  hold  forth  to  others.  The  world  does  not  de- 
mand absolute  perfection  of  us.  It  does  require  sin- 
cerity and  steady  going  on  in  spite  of  frequent 
stumblings.  "  Even  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault, 
ye  which  are  spiritual,  restore  such  an  one  in  a  spirit 
of  meekness ;  looking  to  thyself  lest  thou  also  be 
tempted."  2  Jesus  singled  out  Peter  for  a  special 
message^  after  His  resurrection  and  a  special  ap- 
pearance. Paul  was  glad  in  the  end  to  rejoice  in  the 
recovery  of  usefulness  by  John  Mark  who  had  once 
deserted  the  work.^  It  was  part  of  Paul's  call  "  to 
open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to 
hght."  ^  '•  It  is  a  critical  moment  in  the  history  of 
the  soul  when  the  eyes  are  opened.  Everything  de- 
pends  on  whether  the  next  step  is  taken.     Men's 

» I  John  ii.  6.  «  Gal.  vi.  i.  3  Mark  xvi.  7. 

4  Acts  XV.  38 ;  2  Tim.  iv.  1 1.  6  Acts  xxvi.  18. 


THE  PREACHER'S  PRIVILEGE  125 

eyes  are  often  opened,  and  yet  they  do  not  turn  from 
darkness  to  light.  Who  among  us  has  not  seen,  as 
in  a  flash  of  light,  the  error  of  his  ways,  and  has 
loathed  himself,  and  had  the  self-abasing  cry  on  his 
lips,  and  yet  has  turned  to  darkness  again  and 
plunged  even  more  recklessly  into  evil?  It  is  pos- 
sible for  a  man  to  know  the  misery  of  wrong-doing, 
and  to  describe  it  with  such  a  horror  of  it  as  to  rouse 
others  to  forsake  it,  and  yet  because  he  loves  dark- 
ness better  than  light  to  continue  to  do  the  deeds  of 
evil."  *  There  is  much  to  humble  any  man  who 
stands  in  the  white  light  of  Christ's  presence.  And 
then  to  know  that  men  will  see  Christ  or  not  accord- 
ing as  He  is  reflected  in  our  own  conduct !  But  here 
is  just  the  appeal  to  the  best  and  highest  in  us.  Peter 
and  John  were  both  with  Jesus  at  His  trial ;  John  in 
the  court  room,  Peter  with  the  rabble  denying  Him 
with  oaths  and  curses.  But  both  afterwards  showed 
courage  and  were  recognized  as  having  been  with 
Christ.^  John  had  the  courage  of  consistency,  Peter 
that  of  recovery.  It  has  not  been  easy  for  Christ  to 
impart  to  men  His  passion  for  humanity,^  but  He 
has  done  it  and  His  kingdom  goes  on  with  the 
momentum  of  His  Spirit.  One  thing  is  certain.  It 
does  only  harm  to  affect  likeness  to  Christ  which  we 

1  Clow,  "  The  Cross  in  Christian  Experience,"  pp.  259  f. 

2  Acts  iv,  13,  20. 

3  Carver,  "  Missions  and  Modern  Thought,"  p.  283. 


126  WITH  OPEN  FACE 

do  not  possess.  Hypocrisy  is  the  sin  which  called 
forth  the  most  terrible  words  uttered  by  Jesus.'  The 
only  way  to  reflect  the  glory  of  God  in  Christ  is  to 
be  hke  Him.  There  is  no  need  of  a  veil  so  long  as 
we  continue  to  behold  the  face  of  Christ.  If  we 
lose  sight  of  His  face  and  glory,  no  veil  can  hide 
our  failure  from  men.  "  Ye  are  the  light  of  the 
world,"  says  Jesus.  "  Even  so  let  your  light  shine 
before  men." 

4.  Perseverance 
"  We  faint  not,"  ^  says  Paul.  He  still  has  before  him 
"  the  cry  of  human  insufficiency  "  ^  uttered  in  Corin- 
thians ii.  16.  He  is  still  answering  it  in  a  triumphant 
tone.  The  Greek  manuscripts  vary  here  in  the  word 
for  "faint."  The  best  attested  word*  occurs  also  in 
verse  sixteen  and  in  Galatians  vi.  9 :  "  And  let  us  not 
be  weary  in  well-doing :  for  in  due  season  we  shall 
reap^  if  we  faint  not."  There  are  difficulties  enough 
in  a  ministry  with  all  this  transcendent  glory  to  test 
the  stoutest  heart.  When  Paul  is  a  prisoner  in  Rome 
he  actually  has  to  cheer  the  Christians  who  have 
grown  discouraged  by  reason  of  his  troubles: 
"  Wherefore  I  ask  that  you  faint  not  at  my  tribula- 
tions for  you."  5     Paul  reminds  Timothy  that  God 

*  Matt,  xxiii.  2  2  Cor.  iv.  I. 
'  Greenough,  «  The  Mind  of  Christ  in  St.  Paul,"  p.  293. 

*  Cf.  our  "  giving  in  "  to  evil.  6  Eph,  jij,  i^. 


THE  PREACHER'S  PRIVILEGE  1 27 

had  given  us  a  spirit  of  power,  not  of  cowardly  fear.* 
He  did  this  when  he  was  an  old  preacher  in  prison 
and  facing  certain  death  while  Timothy  was  young 
and  at  work.  Timothy  was  the  one  who  needed  to 
be  exhorted  to  endure  hardship  as  a  good  soldier 
of  Christ."  ^  Etymologically  the  word  for  "  faint " 
could  mean  to  "  abandon  one's  self  to  badness,"  but 
no  examples  of  just  this  sense  occur.  But  it  is  used  for 
cowardly  surrender.  Often  the  dead  pull  of  things  is 
hard  to  overcome.  It  is  easy  just  to  give  up  and 
quit.  Just  to  stick  to  one's  task  and  go  on  is  the 
hard  thing  when  the  first  flush  of  the  romance  is 
over.  John  Mark  "went  not  to  the  work  "^  when 
he  faced  at  Perga  the  perils  of  rivers  and  perils  of 
robbers  that  confronted  Paul  and  Barnabas.  John 
Mark  went  home  to  Jerusalem.  Paul  and  Barnabas 
conquered  a  kingdom  for  Christ.  Courage  in  the 
ministry  comes  from  the  clear  vision  of  Christ  and 
the  world's  need  of  Him.  "Therefore  seeing  we 
have  this  ministry,"  *  says  Paul ;  this  ministry  of 
spiritual  freedom  and  power.  It  is  the  muck-raker 
who  does  not  see  the  angels.  Elisha's  servant  grew 
afraid  at  Dothan  when  he  saw  the  host  with  horses 
and  chariots :  '*  Alas,  my  master !  how  shall  we  do  ? 
And  he  answered,  Fear  not :  for  they  that  are  with 

1  2  Tim.  i.  7.  *  2  Tim.  ii.  1-13.  ^  Acts  xv.  36. 

*  2  Cor.  iv.  I.     He  applies  here  all  the  argument  about  the  su- 
periority of  the  ministry  of  the  New  Covenant  to  that  of  the  Old. 


128  WITH   OPEN   FACE 

us  are  more  than  they  that  be  with  them.  And 
EHsha  prayed,  and  said,  Lord,  I  pray  Thee,  open  his 
eyes,  that  he  may  see.  And  the  Lord  opened  the 
eyes  of  the  young  man ;  and  he  saw :  and,  behold, 
the  mountain  was  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire 
round  about  Elisha."  *  Oh,  for  the  vision  of  the 
power  of  Christ  in  the  midst  of  the  battle.  Paul  had 
this  vision,  "  even  as  we  obtained  mercy."  ^  He 
never  ceases  to  rejoice  in  that.^  The  true  leader 
sounds  the  bugle  note  of  victory  if  the  lines  begin  to 
waver.  There  is  no  retreat  for  Paul,  but  the  onward 
march.  The  ground  of  Paul's  cheer  is  not  in  the 
marks  of  appreciation  which  he  received  from  men. 
It  springs  from  the  fresh  gaze  into  the  face  of  Jesus. 
Look  at  Jesus  and  you  will  go  on  with  your  task. 
"  And  let  us  not  be  weary  in  well-doing :  for  in  due 
season  we  shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not." 

In  Chapter  I  occurs  a  letter  from  a  minister  who 
gave  up  the  ministry.  Here  is  a  reply  in  the  same 
journal : 

"  Dear  William  :  I  have  not  a  doubt  that  all 
your  causes  of  discouragement  are  real,  and  hard  to 
bear ;  but  I  am  sorry  you  are  leaving  the  pastorate. 
You  have  been  a  long  time  on  your  present  field. 
Can  you  not  try  another  one  ?  New  people,  and 
different  conditions,  will  doubtless  cheer  you  and  give 
you  a  fresh  grip. 

»  2  Kings  vii.  15-17.  *2  Cor.  iv.  I. 

'  2  Cor.  vii.  25 ;  i  Tim.  i.  13,  16. 


THE   PREACHER'S   PRIVILEGE  129 

"  Of  course,  if  you  have  become  convinced  that 
God  never  called  you  to  the  ministry,  that  is  an  end 
of  the  matter,  and  ought  to  be.  But  if  it  is  a  matter 
of  disappointment,  suffering,  and  fear  of  the  future, 
you  must  remember  that  Christian  ministers  to-day 
are  the  successors  of  the  prophets.  The  prophet  is 
the  man  of  larger  vision  than  the  people,  the  man 
who  seeks  to  redeem  the  people  to  his  own  higher 
standards,  the  man  who  pleads  with  God  for  the  peo- 
ple and  asks  that  He  be  patient  with  their  dullness 
and  forgive  their  sins.  The  minister  who  stands  in 
this  relation  to  the  people  must  ever  bear  in  his  heart 
something  of  disappointment  and  suffering. 

"  No  Christian  minister  can  be  free  from  the  re- 
demptive principle,  that  the  chastisement  of  the 
people's  peace  is  upon  him,  and  with  his  stripes  they 
are  healed.  In  different  centuries  this  principle  finds 
expression  in  different  forms.  Of  the  ancient  proph- 
ets, the  Lord  said,  '  Which  of  them  did  your  fathers 
not  stone  ? '  Of  the  modern  prophets  it  might  with 
equal  pertinency  be  inquired,  '  To  which  of  them  do 
your  churches  pay  salaries  regularly,  and  in  sufficient 
amount  ? '  I  confess,  William,  that  for  myself,  I  pre- 
fer the  latter  alternative. 

'*  But  what  is  more,  the  minister  of  Christ  must 
not  forget  the  experiences  of  his  Lord,  and  must  be 
ready,  when  necessary,  to  undergo  like  experiences. 
At  Capernaum  on  one  occasion,  all  but  the  twelve 
left  the  Saviour,  and  to  these  He  said, '  Will  ye  also 
go  away  ? '  That  is.  He  was  left  with  a  *  few  faith- 
ful ones.'  But  these  few  became  the  salt  of  the  earth, 
just  as  before  them  the  *  remnant '  was  the  salt  of 
Israel.  The  words,  '  The  servant  is  not  above  his 
master,'  had  scarcely  fallen  from  the  lips  of  Christ 
ere  He  was  crucified,  and  crucified  by  religious  people. 
For  myself,  William,  I  would  rather  endure  any 
modern   crucifixion  than  the  crucifixion  that  was 


130  WITH   OPEN   FACE 

meted  out  to  my  Master.  I  would  rather  endure 
any  hardships  which  are  incident  to  the  modern  min- 
istry, than  to  have  gone  to  prison  and  to  death  with 
Paul  and  the  long  list  of  martyrs  that  stretches  through 
the  centuries.  The  life  of  the  prophet  is  much  the  same 
in  every  age.  The  servant  is  not  above  his  Master. 
So  far,  at  least,  the  redemption  of  the  world  has  been 
achieved  through  self-sacrificing  and  suffering. 

"  The  real  questions  which  confront  the  Christian 
minister  of  to-day  are:  (i)  The  question  of  his  own 
call  to  the  ministry  ;  (2)  the  question  of  his  faith  in 
God's  redemptive  processes,  and  (3)  the  question  of 
his  courage  to  endure  those  processes  as  he  finds 
them  expressed  in  modern  life. 

"  Our  age  is  in  danger  of  making  redemptive  suffer- 
ing a  theory  which  found  sufficient  expression  2,000 
years  ago  in  Jesus  Christ.  Paul  teaches  that  Christians 
— and  it  must  be  preeminently  true  of  Christian  minis- 
ters— are  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  Christ's  suffering. 
The  redemptive  suffering  that  starts  people  on  the 
way  to  Christ  is  suffering  that  comes  upon  us  to-day, 
and  is  brought  upon  us  by  present  conditions,  and 
which  we  endure  for  Christ's  sake. 

"  Do  not  think  that  I  am  unsympathetic  with  your 
discouragement,  old  friend,  but  you  know  that  you 
are  only  one  of  many  ministers  at  this  time  who  are 
leaving  the  ministry  for  secular  work,  though  all  may 
not  be  as  frank  as  you  in  stating  the  reasons.  I  am 
only  expressing  to  you  what  has  occurred  to  me  many 
times  before,  viz.,  the  conviction  that  a  more  heroic 
note  needs  to  be  struck  for  the  Christian  ministry 
to-day,  a  note  which  rings  true  to  the  spirit  of  the 
prophets,  the  Christ,  and  the  apostles." 

5.     Renunciation 
"  But  we    have   renounced  the  hidden  things  of 
shame,  not  walking  in  craftiness,  nor  handling  the 


THE  PREACHER'S   PRIVILEGE  13I 

word  of  God  deceitfully."  ^  This  is  a  very  remark- 
able passage  and  strikes  deep  into  the  minister's 
heart  and  life.  Paul  evidently  has  before  him  the 
bitter  Judaizers  at  Corinth  who  had  been  full  of 
schemes  and  plots  against  Paul  and  the  work  of 
Christ.  Paul  had  bidden  "  the  hidden  things "  of 
shame  be  gone.  He  had  declined^  every  suggestion 
and  impulse  that  would  not  bear  the  Hght.  "  The 
hidden  things  of  shame  "  ^  are  all  those  things  which 
one's  sense  of  honour  does  not  allow  to  come  to  the 
light.  He  does  not  specify  further.  If  you  lift  a 
rock  in  the  spring-time,  the  bugs  flee  from  the  light. 
The  preacher's  heart  is  not  to  be  the  receptacle 
of  private  vengeance,  ecclesiastical  plots,  impure 
thoughts  of  any  kind.  "  Renounce  the  devil  and  all 
his  works  "  *  is  a  good  interpretation  of  Paul's  idea. 
One  who  looks  constantly  into  the  face  of  Christ  will 
not  wish  to  revel  in  the  hidden  things  of  shame.  A 
preacher  can  overdo  the  "  slumming  "  business  and 
make  it  a  satisfaction  of  morbid  curiosity  instead  of 
real  desire  to  help  the  erring.  Paul  mentions  two 
particulars  of  the  hidden  things  of  shame.  One  is 
"walking  in  craftiness."  The  word  for  craftiness^ 
means  being  willing  to  resort  to  any  practice  to  carry 
one's  point.     The  end  does   not  justify  the  means 

»  2  Cor,  iv.  2.  ^  Renounced. 

3Cf.   I  Cor.  iv.  5,  the  hidden  things  of  darkness. 

*  The  Prayer-Book.  ^  Cf.  2  Cor.  xi.  3. 


132  WITH   OPEN   FACE 

with  Paul  nor  with  Christ.  The  minister  does  his 
best  work  in  the  open.  He  opens  his  own  heart  to 
God  and  to  the  people.  That  is  his  strength.  He 
is  stronger  without  the  veil.  The  other  particular  is 
"  handling  the  word  of  God  deceitfully."  *  Both  of 
these  things  the  Judaizers  did.  They  had  made  a 
misuse  and  a  misapplication  of  the  Word  of  God. 
The  devil  could  quote  Scripture.  He  is  never  hap- 
pier than  when  he  can  get  preachers  to  do  his  work.^ 
"  And  no  marvel ;  for  even  Satan  fashioneth  himself 
into  an  angel  of  light."  The  wreckers  who  wave 
false  lights  on  the  coast  to  lure  unsuspecting  ships 
to  ruin  are  no  worse  than  men  who  wilfully  twist  the 
Word  of  God  to  their  own  selfish  schemes  and  pur- 
poses. Paul  had  spoken  of  this  matter  once  before.' 
The  Word  of  God  calls  for  honesty  of  interpretation 
and  exposition.  Intellectual  honesty  is  a  first  essen- 
tial in  a  true  preacher.  The  prophet  of  Christ  is  no 
mere  juggler  of  words.  He  is  dealing  with  the  most 
serious  and  sacred  things  in  life  and  must  speak  with 
frankness  of  mind  and  heart.  *'  Observe  St.  Paul's 
argument :  We  do  not  tamper  with  the  Word  of 
God.  It  is  not  concealed  or  darkened  by  us ;  for  our 
very  work  is  to  spread  light,  to  throw  sunshine  on 
every  side,  and  in  every  way  fearlessly  to  declare  the 
truth,  to  dread  no  consequences ;  for  no  real  minister 
1  Cf.  I  Pet.  iii.  lo.  «  2  Cor.  xi.  15.  »  2  Cor.  ii.  17. 


THE   PREACHER'S   PRIVILEGE  I33 

of  Christ  can  be  afraid  of  illumination."  ^  The  man 
who  looks  in  the  face  of  Christ  looks  up  and  not 
down.     He  looks  all  men  in  the  eye. 

6.  Manifestation  of  the  Truth 
"  But  by  the  manifestation  of  the  truth  commend- 
ing ourselves  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight 
of  God."^  This  is  Paul's  pohcy  as  a  minister  of 
Christ,  perfect  candour,  in  contrast  to  the  conduct  of 
the  Judaizers.  They  had  accused  him  of  all  sorts  of 
tricks,  none  of  which  were  true.  This  was  his  letter 
of  commendation,^  viz.,  the  full  truth.  He  com- 
mended himself  by  telling  the  truth.  The  word  for 
truth  ^  means  unconcealed.  The  lid  is  removed  that 
all  may  see.  The  word  "  manifestation  "  ^  goes  well 
with  truth.  "  We  spake  all  things  to  you  in  truth."  ^ 
The  preacher's  province  is  that  of  truth.  He  has  no 
call  to  any  other  realm.  Pilate  was  ignorant  of  the 
kingdom  of  truth  of  which  Jesus  is  King  and  did  not 
see  that  such  an  abstract  ideality  interfered  at  all 
with  the  rule  of  Caesar.  But  the  interpreter  of  Jesus, 
who  is  the  truth,  while  hospitable  to  all  truth  both 
speculative  and  concrete,  is  not  directly  concerned 
with  the  pursuit  of  absolute  theoretical  truth.    Scien- 


*  F.  W.  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  etc.,  p.  628. 

'2  Cor.  iv.  2.  ^Cf.  2  Cor.  iii.  i. 

<Cf.  2  Cor.  xi.  10,  the  truth  of  Christ. 

«  Cf.  I  Cor.  xii.  7.  «  2  Cor.  vii.  14. 


134  WITH   OPEN   FACE 

tific  research  per  se  and  as  an  end  in  itself  is  not  the 
function  of  the  preacher.  Certainly  philosophy  as 
usually  taught  does  not  cross  the  path  of  the  preacher. 
The  minister  is  a  pragmatist  in  fact,  whatever  he  is 
in  theory.  The  truth  which  the  preacher  is  to  mani- 
fest is  the  realm  of  spiritual  reality  and  practical 
ethics,  not  speculative  ontology  and  cosmology. 
The  preacher  grips  the  conscience  of  men.  He 
misses  the  mark  when  he  appeals  merely  to  intel- 
lectual curiosity,  aesthetic  interest,  or  the  pleasures 
of  the  imagination  or  emotions.  The  conscience 
and  the  will  must  be  confronted '  with  Christ.  "  The 
appeal  to  conscience  can  never  be  omitted  with 
safety,  and  any  presentation  of  Christianity  which 
is  neglectful  of  the  verdict  of  conscience  on  the  doc- 
trines taught  is  at  once  un-apostolic  and  un-Christ- 
like."^  It  is  only  by  placing  his  plea  on  this  highest 
plane  that  the  minister  has  authority.  Clothed  with 
truth  he  has  the  right  to  storm  the  citadel  of  every 
man's  heart.  It  is  this  that  makes  the  real  preacher 
the  master  of  men.  Men  are  so  busy  with  things 
that  they  neglect  themselves — their  best  selves — and 
God.  The  truth  comes  as  a  rude  shock.  "  It  is  the 
evil  heart  which  hides  the  truth.  Light  shines  on 
all — that  is,  all  who  are  in  a  natural  human  state,  all 
who  can  feel,  all  who  have  not  deadened  the  spiritual 

*  Pros.  «  Bernard,  in  loco. 


THE  PREACHER'S   PRIVILEGE  I35 

sense.  .  .  .  The  evidence  of  the  sun  is  its  Hght 
and  not  the  shadow  on  the  dial.  So  Christ  is  divine 
to  those  who  are  of  the  truth."  *  If  one  sees  Christ 
clearly,  he  has  redemptive  truth.  It  is  well  also  if 
he  can  add  speculative  truth  about  the  world,  but 
that  is  distinctly  secondary.  The  old  war  between 
philosophy  and  religion  is  disappearing.  Professor 
James,  of  Harvard,  has  won  for  religion  the  right  of 
fair  treatment  from  philosophy  as  a  fact  in  itself 
worthy  of  study.  It  is  by  no  means  certain  that 
philosophy  will  ever  understand  religion.^  We  need 
not  seek  to  define  more  closely  Paul's  use  of  "  truth  " 
and  "  conscience."  He  is  no  slave  of  words  nor 
does  he  set  forth  a  developed  and  consistent  formula 
of  psychological  terms.  He  makes  his  appeal  to  the 
moral  judgment  of  man  and  does  it  in  the  fullness  of 
truth.3 

7.  A  Veiled  Gospel 
**  And  even  if  our  gospel  is  veiled,  it  is  veiled  in 
them  that  perish  :  in  whom  the  God  of  this  world 
hath  blinded  the  minds  of  the  unbelieving,  that  the 
light  of  the  Gospel  of  the  glory  of  Christ,  who  is  the 
image  of  God,  should  not  dawn  upon  them."  ^     Paul 

1 F.  W.  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  etc.,  p.  628, 

2 "  Religion  and  Philosophy,"  by  T.  M.  Watt,  in  "  Mansfield  Col- 
lege Essays,"  p.  334. 

'  Cf.  "  Hebrew  Psychology  in  Relation  to  Pauline  Anthropology," 
by  H.  W,  Robinson,  in  *«  Mansfield  College  Essays,"  p.  267  fif. 

*  2  Cor.  iv.  3  f. 


136  WITH   OPEN   FACE 

had  manifested  the  truth,  had  declared  his  Gospel  of 
the  glory  of  Christ.  There  was  no  excuse  for  those 
who  heard  if  they  did  not  understand.  There  is  no 
veil  over  the  face  of  Christ.  There  is  no  veil  over 
the  face  of  Paul  and  the  other  ministers  of  the  New 
Covenant.  There  is  no  veil  over  the  Gospel  as 
preached  by  Paul.  But  it  is  a  sad  fact  that  there  is  a 
veil  over  the  hearts  of  many  who  hear  as  there  was 
a  veil  over  the  hearts  of  the  Jews  who  read  Moses 
and  could  not  see  the  Messiah  in  Jesus.'  It  is  a  sad 
situation  with  which  Paul  is  confronted.  In  Romans 
ix.-xi.  he  will  soon  be  explaining  how  God  is  still 
true  to  His  Word  though  the  great  mass  of  the  Jews 
have  rejected  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  The  spiritual 
Israel  he  interprets  as  the  real  Israel  of  promise  and 
this  Israel  included  both  Gentiles  and  Jews.  The 
children  of  faith  are  the  heirs  of  the  promise.  Every 
minister  of  the  Gospel  meets  a  Hke  situation  in  his 
work.  "  The  Gospel  remains  a  secret,  an  impotent 
ineffective  secret,  to  many  who  hear  it  again  and 
again.  Paul  faces  the  difficulty  without  flinching, 
though  the  answer  is  appalling."  ^  It  is  sometimes 
true,  beyond  doubt,  that  the  minister  has  not  done 
his  full  duty.     He  has  not  understood  the  problem 

*  The  condition  in  2  Cor.  iv.  3  is  of  the  first  class  (determined  as 
fulfilled)  and  assumes  the  statement  as  a  fact.  Cf.  Robertson, 
"  Short  Grammar  of  the  Greek  New  Testament,"  p.  l6l. 

'  Denney,  2  Corinthians,  p.  148. 


THE  PREACHER'S   PRIVILEGE  137 

in  this  particular  field  or  he  has  not  delivered  the 
message  with  sufficient  clearness,  ability  or  earnest- 
ness. Every  preacher  has  his  moments  of  sorrow 
over  such  shortcomings.  But  that  is  not  the  point 
made  here  by  Paul.  He  does  not  claim  perfection 
for  himself.  What  he  says  is  that  many  have  wil- 
fully shut  their  eyes  to  the  light  in  the  face  of  Jesus. 
They  have  let  "  the  god  of  this  world  "  blind  their 
minds  so  that  they  cannot  understand.  He  is 
using  language  like  that  of  the  rabbis  who  called 
"  Sammael "  the  "  second  god."  He  was  the  evil 
spirit  who  was  considered  the  special  foe  of  Israel.' 
Jesus  called  Satan  "  the  prince  of  this  world."  ^  Paul 
alluded  to  some  who  made  a  god  of  their  belly .^ 
This  warning  is  peculiarly  pertinent  just  now  when 
mammon  has  such  a  hold  on  the  hearts  of  men  as  is 
seen  in  the  mad  race  for  money  at  the  cost  of  prin- 
ciple, virtue  of  men  and  women,  law  and  order,  love 
of  man  and  God.  The  Pharisees  were  lovers  of 
money .^  Paul  found  money  to  be  a  root  of  all  kinds 
of  evil.^  But  there  is  much  more  than  money  which 
is  here  involved.  The  spirit  of  worldliness  opposes 
religion,  resents  the  effort  to  check  desires  of  the 
flesh,  opposes  real  Christianity  though  willing  to  com- 
promise with  the  forms  of  public  worship  if  no  effort 

1  Wetstein,  in  loco.     Cf.  Bernard,  in  loco. 

2  John  xii,  31.  'Phil.  iii.  19. 
*  Luke  xvi.  14.                                                       ^  I  Tim.  vi.  10. 


138  WITH   OPEN   FACE 

is  made  to  make  people  really  spiritual  and  good,  is 
rightly  called  by  Paul  "  the  god  of  this  age."  The 
time-spirit  {Zeitgeist)  has  amazing  success  in  putting 
out  the  eyes  of  the  modern  Samsons  and  making 
them  grind  the  treadmill  of  material  things  to  the 
neglect  and  death  of  the  spiritual  aspirations  and 
life.  Hear  Denney :  *  "  What  sleepy  conscience, 
what  moral  mediocrity,  itself  purblind,  only  dimly 
conscious  of  the  height  of  the  Christian  calling,  and 
vexed  by  no  aspirations  towards  it,  has  any  right  to 
say  that  it  is  too  much  to  call  Satan  '  the  god  of  this 
world  '  ?  "  As  already  explained,  it  is  possible  that 
'•  in  them  that  perish :  in  whom "  may  be  taken  as 
"  by  the  perishing  things  by  which."  ^  At  any  rate 
it  is  by  flaunting  before  the  eyes  of  the  unbelieving 
the  perishing  toys  of  earth  that  the  god  of  this  world 
blinds  the  hearts  of  men  to  the  glory  of  Christ  and 
the  worth  of  the  spiritual  hfe.  "  Men  who  find  their 
all  in  the  world — how  can  they,  fevered  by  its  busi- 
ness, excited  by  its  pleasures,  petrified  by  its  maxims, 
see  God  in  His  purity,  or  comprehend  the  calm 
radiance  of  eternity  ?  "  ^  Jesus  ^  and  PauP  both  saw 
in  the  hardness  of  men's  hearts  the  fulfillment  of 
Isaiah's  prophecy. 

1  2  Corinthians,  p.  156. 

*  The  gender  may  be  neuter  in  the  Greek. 

'  F.  W,  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  etc.,  p.  629, 

<  John  xii.  37-41.  6  Acts  xxviii.  25-28. 


THE  preacher's  PRIVILEGE  I39 

8.  From  Glory  to  Glory 
The  Apostle  Paul  was  a  firm  believer  in  progress. 
By  this  phrase  *  he  aptly  sets  forth  the  spiritual  de- 
velopment of  all  those  who  keep  in  constant  touch 
with  the  glory  of  Christ.  The  joy  of  his  life  was  the 
hope  of  making  more  progress.  He  had  a  holy  dis- 
content with  what  he  had  already  done  and  an  eager 
impetuosity  to  push  on  "  towards  the  goal  unto  the 
prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  ^ 
The  more  Paul  saw  of  Jesus  the  more  dissatisfied  he 
became  with  himself.  The  progress  that  Paul  is  here 
thinking  of  is  not  increased  reputation,  power,  influ- 
ence. Those  are  mere  accidents,  though  I  am  glad 
to  quote  this  sentence  from  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman: 
'•  Never  was  there  such  a  day  as  this  for  the  preacher." 
Paul  is  contemplating  a  richer  personality,  one  more 
like  Jesus,  one  more  completely  surrendered  to  the 
Spirit,  one  that  more  effectively  reflects  the  glory  of 
God  to  men.  It  is  in  sooth  a  good  thing  when  a 
minister's  development  is  manifest  to  all.^  That  is  a 
ground  of  rejoicing.  The  saints  of  God  dehght  in  a 
minister  who  knows  how  to  handle  the  Word  of  God 
rightly,  who  is  meet  for  the  Master's  use,  prepared 
unto  every  good  work.^  But  Paul  does  not  mean  for 
the  preacher  himself  to  be  marking  notches  in  his 

^2  Cor.  iii.  18.  «  Phil.  iii.  14.  «  i  Tim.  iv.  15. 

*  2  Tim.  ii.  15,  21. 


140  WITH  OPEN  FACE 

progress.  The  man  who  has  made  most  spiritual 
development  may  be  least  conscious  of  it.  Certainly 
there  can  be  no  posing  for  effect  nor  attitudinizing 
on  the  part  of  the  man  who  has  entered  most  into 
the  heart  of  Jesus,  who  has  gazed  longest  at  the  glory 
of  Christ,  who  has  been  most  completely  transfigured 
into  the  likeness  of  Christ.  That  man  will  see  more 
clearly  the  sins  in  his  heart  in  the  clear  white  light 
of  the  Cross.  There  are  higher  heights  of  glory 
ahead  and  the  Face  of  Christ  beckons  on.  Some 
day  "  we  shall  be  like  Him ;  for  we  shall  see  Him 
even  as  He  is."  ' 

1 1  John  iii.  2. 


THIS  TREASURE  IN  EARTHEN  VESSELS 
—THE  HUMAN  LIMITATIONS 

{2  Cor.  iv.  7-1  s) 

"  But  we  have  this  treasure  in  earthen 
vessels,  that  the  exceeding  greatness 
of  the  power  may  be  of  God,  and  not 
from  ourselves." 

—2  Cor.  iv.  7. 


THIS  TREASURE  IN  EARTHEN  VESSELS— 
THE  HUMAN  LIMITATIONS 

I.     The  Weaknesses  of  Preachers 

IT  is  not  clear  whether  the  sudden  contrast  be- 
tween the  precious  "  hght  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ " 
and  the  feeble  and  imperfect  medium  through  which 
this  "  Gospel  of  the  glory  of  Christ "  is  conveyed  to 
men  is  suggested  to  Paul  by  the  inherent  facts  in  the 
case  or  also  by  taunts  of  his  enemies  about  his  own 
personal  weaknesses/  Later  in  the  Epistle  Paul 
does  reveal  knowledge  of  the  sneers  made  against 
him  and  his  work  in  Corinth.  "  For  his  letters, 
they  say,  are  weighty  and  strong;  but  his  bodily 
presence  is  weak,  and  his  speech  is  of  no  account."  * 
This  was  a  personal  stab  at  the  defects  of  his  bodily 
presence,  otherwise  unknown  to  us,  for  the  traditions 
about  his  being  a  hunchback  and  having  weak  eyes 
have  no  support  in  Paul's  Epistles  unless  weak  eyes 
are  suggested  by  Galatians  iv.  15  :  "  Ye  would  have 
plucked  out  your  eyes  and  given  them  to  me."  But 
he  did  once,  if  not  always,  have  "  a  temptation  to 

*  See  Meyer,  in  loco,  and  Bachmann,  in  loco.  2  2  Cor.  x.  10. 

143 


144     THIS   TREASURE   IN   EARTHEN   VESSELS 

you  in  my  flesh  "  '  which  the  Galatians  had  not  de- 
spised. In  spite  of  this  they  had  received  him  "  as 
an  angel  of  God,  even  as  Christ  Jesus  "  would  have 
been  welcomed.  Evidently  Paul  was  conscious  of 
bodily  imperfections  and  limitations.  He  had  no 
disposition  to  pose  as  a  martyr  because  of  his  de- 
fects. He  mentions  his  "  weakness  "  ^  because  his 
enemies  had  flung  it  in  his  face,  so  to  speak.  He 
had  his  "thorn  in  the  flesh,"  whatever  it  was  (a 
blessed  ignorance  to  all  ministers  who  have  thus 
a  delicate  bond  of  union  with  Paul),  and  had 
learned  how  to  bear  his  burden,  even  to  **  take 
pleasure  in  weaknesses,  in  injuries,  in  necessities, 
in  persecutions,  in  distresses,  for  Christ's  sake; 
for  when  I  am  weak,  then  am  I  strong."  ^  To  his 
prayer  for  the  removal  of  the  thorn,  he  had  this 
answer :  "  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee :  for  My 
power  is  made  perfect  in  weakness."  That  hard 
lesson  Paul,  like  the  rest  of  us,  had  to  learn  by  long 
experience.  Some  of  the  enemies  of  Paul  criticized 
his  preaching.  "  His  speech  is  of  no  account." 
This  probably  means  that  he  will  be  afraid  to  say  in 
speech  what  he  writes  in  letters  rather  than  deprecia- 
tion of  his  style  of  utterance.  Paul  made  no  claim 
to  great  oratory  *  and  knew  that  he  did  not  please 

*  Gal.  iv.  14.  2  2  Cor.  xi.  30.  s  2  Cor.  xii.  10. 

*  I  Cor.  ii.  2. 


THE   HUMAN   LIMITATIONS  I45 

all  men.     "  I  was  with  you  in  weakness,  and  in  fear, 
and  in  much  trembling.     And  my  speech  and  my 
preaching  were  not  in  persuasive  words  of  wisdom."  * 
It  was  a  constant  wonder  ^  to  Paul  that  Jesus  could 
have  found  any  good  in  him  as  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  one  who  had  been  "  a   blasphemer,  and  a 
persecutor,  and  injurious."     He  still  felt  himself  to 
be  the  chief  of  sinners.     There  may  have  been  an 
undertone  of  acknowledgment  of  the  taunts  of  his 
enemies  in  this  comparison.     The  preacher  is  surely 
placed  in  an  embarrassing  position  when  he  becomes 
the  target  of  personal  criticism  from  people  who  are 
themselves  anything  but  perfect.     He  is  not  able  to 
stand  up  and  speak  for  himself,  if  he  has  the  spirit 
of  humility  and  knows  how  frail  after  all  he  is.    There 
is  exquisite  suffering  in  many  a  minister's  heart  as  a 
result  of  cutting,  heartless  criticisms  of  his  person,  his 
speech,  and  his  hfe.     One  must  not  be  oversensitive, 
least  of  all  pretend  to  be  perfect  or  above  criticism. 
The   note   that   Paul   strikes  here  is  the  chord   of 
sympathy.     "There  is  less  of  polemical  argument, 
and  more  of  the  natural  outpouring  of  his  own  feel- 
ings in  this  section,  than  in  most  other  parts  of  the 
Epistle/'^     "We  have  this  treasure  in  earthen  ves- 
sels." ^     It  is,  beyond  all  doubt,  a  matter  of  surprise 

1  I  Cor.  ii.  3.  »  I  Tim.  i.  I2ff.  'Stanley,  in  loco. 

4  Cf.  2  Tim.  ii.  20. 


146     THIS  TREASURE   IN  EARTHEN  VESSELS 

that  God  should  entrust  this  matchless  treasure  to 
feeble  instruments  whom  the  axe  and  the  lion  can 
destroy/  "  The  disproportion  between  his  [man's] 
own  nature  and  powers,  and  the  high  calling  to  which 
he  has  been  called,  flashes  across  his  mind."  ^  The 
vessel  of  clay  ^  is  very  fragile  and  is  easily  broken  and 
destroyed.  Yet  to-day  the  ostraka,  broken  pieces  of 
pottery  picked  up  in  the  sands  of  Egypt,  are  bearing 
eloquent  testimony  to  the  life  of  the  people  in  Paul's 
own  time.*  The  Persian  kings  kept  their  gold  and 
silver  in  earthenware  jars.®  There  is  a  rabbinical 
story  of  Rabbi  Joshua  who  was  taunted  by  the 
emperor's  daughter  on  his  mean  appearance.  He 
pointed  to  the  earthen  jars  which  contained  her 
father's  wines.  She  then  placed  the  wine  in  silver 
vessels  when  it  turned  sour,  whereon  the  rabbi 
ventured  to  remind  her  that  the  humblest  vessels 
sometimes  contained  the  highest  wisdom.^  The  use 
of  "  earthen  vessel  "  as  a  figure  for  man's  littleness  as 
compared  with  God's  greatness  is  frequent.^  He  is 
like  the  potter's  clay.  There  are,  to  be  sure,  differ- 
ences in  men.^  They  do  not  all  have  precisely  the 
same  frailties  and  limitations,  but  they  all  have  them. 

1  F.  W.  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  etc.,  p.  629. 
*  Denney,  i?i  loco.  '  Ostrakinos. 

*Cf.  Deissmann,  "Light  from  the  Ancient  East.'* 
'  Herodotus,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  96.       « Cf.  Stanley,  h:  loco,  and  Wetstein. 
■>  Cf.  Job  X.  9;  Isa.  XXX.  14;  Jer.  xix.  ii ;  2  Esdras  iv.  ii ;  Rom, 
ix.  20  ff.;  2  Tim.  ii.  20.  «  2  Tim.  ii.  20. 


THE  HUMAN  LIMITATIONS.  147 

The  church  that  is  looking  for  perfection  at  a  thou- 
sand dollars  a  year  or  at  ten  thousand  will  look  in 
vain.  It  is  a  fearful  mistake  to  expect  or  demand  an 
impossible  standard  in  the  preacher.  There  can  only 
result  dissatisfaction.  Ministers  are  men  and  so  long 
as  other  men  are  not  perfect,  there  is  no  hope  of 
perfection  in  the  ministry.  If  God  could  not  use 
poor  instruments  and  feeble  voices,  He  would  make 
no  music.  Socrates  disdained  the  title  of  teacher 
and  called  himself  a  fellow-inquirer.*  There  is,  of 
course,  small  consolation  in  noting  the  defects  of 
other  men,  but  in  this  view  it  is  necessary  to  get  the 
true  perspective.  Abraham  was  guilty  of  duplicity, 
and  yet  he  became  the  man  of  faith  and  the  friend 
of  God.  Moses  had  his  halting  speech  and  quick 
temper,  yet  he  was  the  man  chosen  to  make  a  nation 
and  to  commune  with  God.  David  was  guilty  of 
adultery  and  murder,  but  he  repented  and  became  a 
man  after  God's  own  heart  and  the  sweet  singer  of 
Israel  for  all  time.  Elijah  ran  from  Jezebel  and  sat 
under  the  juniper  tree,  but  he  had  stood  on  Carmel 
and  defied  Ahab  and  all  the  prophets  of  Baal  and  he 
heard  the  still  small  voice  of  God  at  Horeb.  Isaiah, 
in  the  presence  of  the  heavenly  vision  of  God's  holi- 
ness, said  :  ^  '*  Woe  is  me  !  for  I  am  undone  ;  because 

1  Adam,  "  Religious  Teachers  of  Greece,"  p.  339, 
2Isa.    vi.    5.     Cf.    Stalker,   "The    Preacher   and    His    Models," 
pp.  46  ff. 


148     THIS  TREASURE  IN   EARTHEN  VESSELS 

I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  in  the  midst 
of  a  people  of  unclean  lips  ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen 
the  King  Jehovah  of  Hosts."  Nevertheless,  he 
ventured  to  say,  after  one  of  the  seraphim  touched 
his  lips  with  a  coal  from  the  altar  and  cleansed  his 
lips :  "  Here  am  I ;  send  me."  And  Peter,  who, 
though  the  leader  and  spokesman  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles,  had  denied  his  Lord  with  oaths  and 
curses,  was  restored  by  the  compassion  of  Jesus  and 
was  able  to  speak  under  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  with  tremendous  effect  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost. 
It  is  needless  to  go  on.  There  was  John  the  Apostle, 
who  expected  to  be  praised  by  Jesus  for  refusing  to 
allow  a  man  not  of  their  company  to  cast  out 
demons  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  who  with  James 
wanted  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven  to  burn  up  a 
Samaritan  village,  who  with  James,  also,  wanted  the 
chief  places  in  the  kingdom  of  Jesus — John  became 
the  Beloved  Disciple,  the  apostle  of  love,  the  eagle 
who  soared  to  great  heights,  who  pierced  the  deepest 
into  the  mystery  of  Christ  the  Son  of  God. 

2.     The  Exceeding  Greatness  of  the  Power  of  God 
There  is  no  doubt  of  the  fact  of  the  human  limita- 
tions of  ministers  of  Christ.     Some  even  make  com- 
plete shipwreck  like  Judas  whom  the  devil  captured 
completely.     Satan  tempted  all  the  other  apostles,  as 


THE  HUMAN  LIMITATIONS  I49 

he  did  Christ  Himself.  The  servant  is  not  above 
his  Lord.  Every  preacher  is  from  the  very  nature 
of  the  case  a  target  of  the  devil.  Satan  wanted  to 
sift  all  the  apostles  like  wheat  and  Jesus  made  special 
prayer  for  Peter.'  People  sometimes  forget  that 
preachers  are  subject  to  temptation  and  innocently 
throw  temptations  across  their  path.  To  speak 
plainly,  preachers  may  fall  victims  to  silly  women,  to 
love  of  money,  and  to  love  of  praise.  "  But  thou, 
O  man  of  God,  flee  these  things."  ^  The  very  fact 
that  God  can  do  so  much  with  such  frail  men  as 
ministers  of  necessity  are  is  proof  of  the  greatness  of 
God's  power.  Indeed,  Paul  boldly  interprets  this  to 
be  God's  purpose.^  This  was  the  reason  God  had 
refused  to  remove  the  thorn  in  the  flesh  of  Paul.  He 
was  in  danger  of  being  exalted  overmuch  by  reason 
of  the  visions  given  him.  But  now  he  had  this  per- 
petual reminder  of  his  human  weakness,  "  that  the 
power  of  Christ  may  rest  upon  me."  ^  The  word  ® 
of  Paul  means  "  shooting  beyond  the  mark,"  beyond 
all  measurement.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  power  of 
God.  There  is  thus  no  limit  to  the  work  of  the 
preacher,  though  an  earthen  vessel     People  are  often 

*  Luke  xxii.  31  f. 

2  I  Tim.  vi.  II.  The  false  prophets  in  the  Old  Testament  present 
a  terrible  picture.  "  The  prophets  prophesy  falsely,  and  my  people 
love  to  have  it  so,"  Jeremiah  laments.  Cf  especially  Jer.  xxiii.  9-40; 
Ezek.  xiii.    See  Stalker,  "  The  Preacher  and  His  Models,"  Lecture  V. 

»2  Cor.  iv.  7.  *2  Cor.  xii.  5,  7  ft.  ^  Cf.  iv.  17. 


I50     THIS  TREASURE  IN   EARTHEN  VESSELS 

astonished  at  the  results  of  a  given  ministry.  The 
preaching  is  not  eloquent,  is  not  learned,  is  not  al- 
ways attractive.  Men  have  been  puzzled  to  analyze 
the  power  of  D.  L.  Moody.  God  is  the  only  ex- 
planation. Moody  had  really  great  powers,  but  gave 
himself  wholly  to  God  and  God  filled  him  with  His 
own  power.  Paul  had  already  explained  to  the 
Corinthians  that  God  worked  thus,  "  that  your  faith 
should  not  stand  in  the  wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the 
power  of  God."  ^  The  increase  came  from  God. 
Preachers  do  differ,  but  each  receives  his  gift  from 
God  and  a  gift  is  not  an  occasion  for  pride  or  selfish 
bickering,  but  of  humble  gratitude.  "  For  who 
makest  thee  to  differ  ?  and  what  hast  thou  that  thou 
didst  not  receive?  "^  Spurgeon,  Maclaren,  New- 
man, Liddon,  Parker,  Beecher,  Brooks,  Broadus, 
Moody, — each  had  his  own  gift  from  God.  These 
were  the  mighty  in  the  generation  just  gone,  "  not 
many  wise  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not 
many  noble."  "  God  chose  the  foolish  things  of  the 
world,  that  He  might  put  to  shame  them  that  are 
wise ;  and  God  chose  the  weak  things  of  the  world, 
that  He  might  put  to  shame  the  things  that  are 
strong ;  and  the  base  things  of  the  world,  and  the 

*  I  Cor.  ii.  5. 

3  I  Cor.  iv.  7.  I  shall  never  forget  a  masterly  address  delivered 
to  the  students  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary  many 
years  ago  by  Archibald  G.  Brown  from  this  text. 


THE  HUMAN   LIMITATIONS  151 

things  that  are  despised,  did  God  choose,  yea  and 
the  things  that  are  not,  that  He  might  bring  to 
naught  the  things  that  are:  that  no  flesh  should 
glory  before  God."  *  This  is  the  perennial  lesson  of 
the  preacher,  that  of  God's  power.  Look  at  the 
stripHng  in  all  his  awkward  timidity,  but  full  of  a 
deep  earnestness  to  answer  the  call  of  God  for  serv- 
ice. See  him  years  afterwards  as  he  moves  the 
multitude  to  repentance.  That  is  the  power  of  God, 
the  exceeding  greatness  of  His  power.  "  No  one 
who  saw  this,  and  looked  at  a  preacher  like  Paul, 
could  dream  that  the  explanation  lay  in  him.  Not 
in  an  ugly  little  Jew,  without  presence,  without  elo- 
quence, without  the  means  to  bribe  or  to  compel, 
could  the  source  of  such  courage,  the  cause  of  such 
transformations,  be  found  ;  it  must  be  sought,  not  in 
him,  but  in  God."^  Hear  Denney^  again:  *' One 
would  sometimes  think,  from  the  tone  of  current 
hterature,  that  no  person  with  gifts  above  contempt 
is  any  longer  identified  with  the  Gospel.  Clever 
men,  we  are  told,  do  not  become  preachers  now, 
still  less  do  they  go  to  church.  .  .  .  There  al- 
ways have  been  men  in  the  world  so  clever  that  God 
could  make  no  use  of  them ;  they  could  never  do 
His  work,  because  they  were  so  lost  in  admiration  of 
their   own.     But    God's   work   never   depended    on 

*  I  Cor.  i.  26-29.  *  Denney,  in  loco.  P.  160. 


152     THIS  TREASURE  IN  EARTHEN  VESSELS 

them,  and  it  does  not  depend  on  them  now."  That 
is  well  said  and  to  the  point.  But  it  needs  to  be 
added  that  those  "  clever  "  men  do  not  always  know 
greatness  of  intellect,  not  to  say  character,  when 
they  see  it.  A  tenth-rate  novel  with  its  cheap  jibes 
at  the  ministry  may  pass  as  "literature"  with  the 
unthinking  and  it  will  be  forgotten  to-morrow.  It 
is  easy  to  set  up  a  man  of  straw  and  caricature  the 
preacher.  Manhood  is  the  first  essential  in  the  min- 
ister. "  Our  first  minister  was  a  man,  but  he  was  not 
a  minister ;  our  second  was  a  minister,  but  he  was 
not  a  man ;  and  the  one  we  have  at  present  is  neither 
a  man  nor  a  minister."  ^  The  preacher  must  have 
"the  blood-streak  of  experience." ^  This  Paul  had. 
He  had  sympathy,  heart,  and  was  the  "  Man  of 
Tears."  ^  But  he  was  also  a  man  of  transcendent  in- 
tellectual gifts.  It  is  taking  nothing  from  the  power 
of  God  to  note  that  this  chosen  vessel  to  bear  the 
Gospel  to  the  Gentiles  was  just  the  most  gifted  man 
of  his  time  in  all  the  real  elements  of  human  great- 
ness. "  Every  now  and  then,  his  thought  bursts  up 
through  the  argument  like  a  flaming  geyser  and  falls 
in  showers  of  sparks,"  and,  like  Shakespeare,  he  will 
"  pause    and,  spreading  his  wings,  go  soaring  and 

*  Stalker,  "  The  Preacher  and  His  Models,"  p.  165.  The  experi- 
ence of  a  Scotch  Highlander.  "  People  do  not  now  respect  the 
cloth,  unless  they  find  a  man  inside  it." 

a  Ibid.,  p.  166.  3  Adolph  Monod,  "  The  Tears  of  Paul." 


THE   HUMAN   LIMITATIONS  153 

singing  like  a  lark  sheer  up  into  the  blue."  *  It  does 
not  lie  in  the  mouth  of  any  modern  man  to  ridicule 
the  intellectual  prowess  of  Paul.  The  ministry  of 
Christ  makes  its  appeal  to  the  men  of  the  noblest 
gifts,  but  God  is  not  dependent  on  any  set  of  men. 
The  student  life  of  our  time  will  miss  the  supreme 
opportunity  for  usefulness  if  it  passes  by  the  claims 
of  the  ministry  of  Christ.  But  it  must  not  be  forgot- 
ten that  Jesus  chose  His  apostles  from  the  unschooled 
fishermen  and  artisans  of  Galilee  save  Judas  the 
Judean.  He  passed  by  the  rabbinical  theological 
seminaries  where  religious  impulse  had  died  and 
thought  had  crystallized.  He  will  pass  by  the  schools 
to-day  if  the  teachers  and  students  close  their  minds 
and  hearts  to  Him.  Jesus  seeks  the  open  mind  and 
the  warm  heart.  He  knocks  at  the  door  of  the  heart 
of  every  university  and  seminary  man  in  the  world. 
The  answer  is  more  important  to  the  student  than  it 
is  to  Christ.  Jesus  will  go  to  the  highways  and  find 
others  to  heed  His  call,  but  the  student  will  not  find 
another  Christ  to  serve.  At  best  it  is  only  an 
earthen  vessel  that  any  one  can  offer,  wholly  un- 
worthy of  the  priceless  jewel  which  Jesus  offers  to 
place  therein.  Who  can  ask  for  a  higher  service 
than  to  tell  of  the  Light  in  the  Face  of  Jesus 
Christ  ? 

1  Stalker,  "The  Preacher  and  His  Models,"  p.  158. 


154     THIS   TREASURE   IN   EARTHEN   VESSELS 

3.  TJie  Guidi?ig  Hand 
The  secret  of  success  in  the  ministry  is  very 
simple.  It  is  real  connection  with  God,  vital  union 
with  Christ.  This  is  just  the  most  difficult  thing  to 
maintain  in  fullness  of  hfe.  The  strains  of  life  pull 
us  away.  Dust  gathers  about  our  heads  and  in  our 
eyes.  Clouds  gather  and  the  sun  does  not  shine 
upon  us.  God  seems  to  sHp  away  from  us  and  we 
are  left  with  our  weakness  and  the  criticism  of  the 
people.  It  is  not  human  weakness  that  is  a  source 
of  strength.  It  is  only  when  the  power  of  God 
charges  the  empty  vessel  that  it  becomes  a  dynamo. 
Paul  changes  the  figure  from  that  of  an  earthen  ves- 
sel to  a  soldier,  with  an  anacoluthon  so  common  in 
this  Epistle :  "  Pressed  on  every  side,  yet  not  strait- 
ened." '  He  was  "  hard  pressed,  but  not  driven  into 
straits."  ^  He  was  not  yet  hemmed  in,  not  put  into 
a  corner.  He  could  still  go  on  with  his  work.^  God 
had  always  come  to  his  rescue.  The  old  negro's 
philosophy  comes  in  here :  "  It  mout  be  wuss." 
Paul  carries  on  the  contrast  between  human  weak- 
ness and  God's  power :  "  perplexed,  yet  not  unto 
despair."  ^  He  had  lost  his  way,^  he  was  bewildered 
like  a  man  going  in  a  circle,  he  was  "  put  to  it,  yet 


*  2  Cor.  iv.  8 ;  cf.  Rom.  ii.  9 ;  viii.  35. 

'  Meyer,  in  loco.  »  Cf,  2  Cor.  xii.  lO. 

*  2  Cor.  iv.  8.  6  Cf.  Gal.  iv.  20. 


THE  HUMAN   LIMITATIONS  I55 

not  utterly  put  out."  *  How  these  phrases  parallel 
the  experience  of  every  minister  of  Jesus.  We  come 
to  our  wit's  end  and  find  God  there.  Man's  ex- 
tremity is  God's  opportunity.  We  are  "pursued, 
yet  not  forsaken."  ^  He  was  hunted  Uke  a  wild  ani- 
mal, yet  not  abandoned  to  the  pursuing  foe.  How 
often,  when  persecuted,  Paul  had  to  flee  for  his  life ! 
We  were  "  pursued  in  our  flight,  but  not  left  behind 
as  a  prey  to  our  pursuers."  ^  Once  more  :  ♦'  smitten 
down,  yet  not  destroyed."^  The  image  may  be  of 
one  smitten  down  with  a  dart  or  arrow  or  of  one 
overtaken  in  flight  and  thrown  to  the  ground.  He 
had  himself  been  stoned  and  left  for  dead.  But  he 
did  not  perish,  not  yet.  When  trouble  has  done  its 
worst,  he  has  been  able  to  rise  from  the  ground  and 
go  on  proclaiming  Christ.  The  hand  of  God  in  his 
life  Paul  here  joyfully  acknowledges.  This  is  the 
sustaining  power  in  life.     This  he  has  always  had. 

4.  The  Lesson  of  Suffering 
This  is  the  climax  of  the  series  of  contrasts.  Paul 
is  not  merely  resigned  to  suffering  and  persecution. 
Others,  not  Christians,  have  come  to  that  state  with 
more  or  less  success.  Paul  has  come  to  rejoice  in 
his  sufferings  as  fiUing  up  that  which  is  lacking  of 

*Denney,  in  loco.  *Cf.  Gal.  i.  13. 

*  Stanley,  in  loco.  *  Kataballo. 


156     THIS  TREASURE  IN  EARTHEN  VESSELS 

the  afflictions  of  Christ.'  He  is  dying  daily .^  He 
is  killed  all  the  day  long.^  This  continual  exposure 
to  the  peril  of  death  is  Hke  the  experience  of  Jesus. 
So  then  Paul  "  is  always  bearing  about  in  the  body 
the  dying  of  Jesus."  ^  He  has  no  complaint  to  make 
on  this  score.  It  is  part  of  the  business  of  the  fol- 
lower of  Jesus,  the  soldier  of  the  Cross :  *'  For  we 
who  hve  are  always  delivered  unto  death  for  Jesus' 
sake."  ^  The  soldier  does  not  flinch  when  the  bul- 
lets whizz  by  his  head  nor  when  they  strike  his 
heart.  Besides,  Paul  knows  that  "  the  sufferings 
which  come  upon  him  daily  in  his  work  for  Jesus 
are  gradually  killing  him ;  the  pains,  the  perils,  the 
spiritual  pressure,  the  excitement  of  danger  and  the 
excitement  of  dehverance,  are  wearing  out  his 
strength,  and  soon  he  must  die."  ^  He,  like  Jesus, 
was  facing  a  certain  death,  hastened  by  the  very 
work  in  which  he  was  engaged.  But  his  hand  was 
to  the  plough  and  he  would  not  turn  back.  "  It  is 
as  if  he  had  said,  *  we  are  living  corpses.  We  bear 
with  us  wherever  we  go  the  burden  of  the  dead 
body.'  " '  But  there  is  a  purpose  in  it  all.  Thus  it  is 
that  the  life  of  Christ  is  reproduced  in  us,  "  that  the 
life  also  of  Jesus  may  be  manifested  in  our  body."  ^ 
Jesus  had  said  that  the  man  who  lost  his  life  would 

»  Col.  i.  24.  9 1  Cor.  XV.  31.  3  Rom.  viii.  36. 

*2  Cor.  iv.  10.  62  Cor.  iv.  Ii. 

«  Denney,  in  loco.  "^  Stanley,  in  loco.  ^  2  Cor.  iv.  10. 


THE  HUMAN   LIMITATIONS  157 

find  it.'  "  Christ,  then,  is  the  mystic  symbol  of 
Christian  life ;  His  death  and  resurrection  are  re- 
peated in  His  people.  .  .  .  Pain  was  sacred, 
since  Christ  had  also  suffered.  Life  became  grand 
when  viewed  as  a  repetition  of  the  life  of  Christ."  ^ 
Besides,  "  death  worketh  in  us,  but  life  in  you."  ^ 
There  is  divine  energy  ^  in  death  itself  and  the  slow 
dying  before  Paul  was  working  out  for  the  good  of 
the  saints  who  were  benefited  by  his  ministry.  Paul 
does  not  look  on  suffering  as  an  accident,  but  as  a 
matter  of  divine  appointment  that  thus  the  fullness 
of  the  life  of  Christ  may  be  presented  to  men.^  Cal- 
vin ^  calls  this  saying  of  Paul  in  verse  twelve  ironical. 
That  is  true  of  i  Corinthians  iv.  8,  but  hardly  here. 
It  is  part  of  the  equipment  of  every  preacher  that  he 
enter  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  Only  thus 
is  he  qualified  to  bind  up  broken  hearts,  to  give  a 
sympathetic  heart  to  those  who  need  that  more  than 
mere  words.  The  Messiah  was  to  be  a  man  of  sor- 
rows and  acquainted  with  grief.  Brilliant  as  was 
Paul's  intellect,  it  is  probable  that  his  heart  was 
greater  than  his  head.^  "  Who  is  weak  and  I  am  not 
weak  ?     Who  is  caused  to  stumble  and  I  burn  not  ? "  ^ 


1  Matt,  X.  39. 

9  F.  W.  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  etc.,  p.  631. 

'  2  Cor.  iv.  12.  •*  Energeital.  ^  Denney,  in  loco. 

*  In  loco.     Ironice  dictum. 

'  Stalker,  "  The  Preacher  and  His  Models,"  p.  159. 

8  2  Cor.  xi.  29. 


158     THIS  TREASURE  IN   EARTHEN  VESSELS 

"  Our  mouth  is  open  unto  you,  O  Corinthians,  our 
heart  is  enlarged.     .     .     .     Open  your  hearts  to  us."  ^ 

5.  The  Power  of  Conviction 
**  I  believed,  and  therefore  did  I  speak ;  we  also 
believe,  and  therefore  also  we  speak."  ^  Paul  has  ap- 
plied the  words  of  the  Psalmist^  to  his  own  case. 
The  spirit  of  faith  is  essential  to  the  preacher.  Dis- 
trust of  God  cuts  the  nerve  of  faith  and  renders  the 
preacher  powerless.  It  is  just  this  trust  in  Christ 
which  is  the  channel  through  which  flows  the  power 
of  God  into  the  earthen  vessel.  Without  trust  there 
is  no  conviction.  No  positive  note  is  struck  by  the 
minister  who  does  not  love  and  trust  Christ.  It  is 
useless  for  him  to  chatter  away  about  the  beauty  of 
duty  and  the  aesthetics  of  social  service  when  the 
fire  of  love  for  Christ  does  not  burn  in  his  own  heart. 
"  We  also  believe,  and  therefore  we  also  speak."  ^  If 
one  does  not  believe,  let  him  at  least  be  silent  and 
not  attempt  to  expound  his  doubts.  People  care 
nothing  for  them  and  are  not  profited  by  them. 
When  the  doubter  comes  back  to  Christ,  then  he  has 
a  message  for  men.^  "  The  minister  of  Christ  speaks 
in  faith ;  that  is,  in  a  firm  conviction  of  divine  power 
arising  from  the  Resurrection — faith  in  the  deliver- 

*  2  Cor.  vii.  2,  II.  22  Cor,  iv.  13. 

3  Psa.  cxvi.  10,  but  LXX  cxv.  i,  •»  2  Cor.  iv.  13. 

'  Cf.  George  Romanes,  ««  Thoughts  on  Religion." 


THE  HUMAN  LIMITATIONS  I59 

ing  or  redeeming  power  of  God.     Observe  the  differ- 
ence between  this  and  theological  knowledge.     It  is 
not  a  minister's  wisdom,  but  his   co7iviction,  which 
imparts  itself  to  others.     Nothing  gives  life  but  life. 
Real  flame  alone  kindles  other  flame."  '     Men  with 
that  will  speak  and  will  be  heard  also.     *'  For  we 
cannot   but   speak   the   things   which   we   saw  and 
heard."  ^     So  Paul  felt :  "  For  woe  is  unto  me,  if  I 
preach  not  the  Gospel."  ^     The   necessity  was  laid 
upon  him  which  drove  him  forward  in  the  service 
of  Christ.     A  man  with  profound  conviction  will  not 
so  much  be  hunting  for  something  to  say  as  be  eager 
for  an  opportunity  to  say  what  fills  his  mind  and 
heart.     Paul  has  a  contempt  for  mere  intellectualism 
divorced  from  experience.^     The  preacher  should  be 
constantly  engaged  in  "  Great  Reading,"  the  reading 
of  great  books,  and  not  be  frightened  by  the  bug- 
bear of  simplicity  into  making  his  sermons  thin  and 
watery.^     But  no  amount  of  reading  nor  intellectual 
brilliance  will  take  the  place  of  thorough  conviction 
and  sincerity. 

6.     Thanksgiving 
"  For  all  things  are  for  your  sakes,  that  the  grace, 
being  multiplied  through  the  many,  may  cause  the 

1 F.  W.  Robertson,  «  Life  and  Letters,"  p.  629. 

3  Acts  iv.  20.  '  I  Cor.  IX.  16 

4  Stalker,  "The  Preacher  and  His  Models,"  p.  253. 
&  Ibid.,  pp.  252  f. 


l3o     THIS  TREASURE   IN  EARTHEN  VESSELS 

thanksgiving  to  abound  unto  the  glory  of  God."  ^ 
Paul  expects  that  God  will  present  ^  him  and  his 
converts  together  at  the  court  of  heaven  before 
Christ  Jesus.  That  will  be  a  joyful  scene.  Paul  will 
be  grateful  for  what  God  has  wrought  through  him 
in  them.  They  will  thank  God  for  Paul.  It  is  pos- 
sible to  be  thankful  for  the  ministry  with  all  these 
shortcomings.^  Certainly  the  grace  of  God  merits 
thanksgiving.  That  grace  is  in  most  cases  conveyed 
in  these  earthen  vessels.  Suppose  we  had  no 
preachers  of  the  Gospel.  Thought  along  that  line 
will  surely  afford  abundant  ground  for  thankfulness 
for  the  ministers,  taking  them  as  they  are.  It  might 
be  far  worse.  Let  us  then  praise  God  for  His  grace 
and  for  His  ministers  of  grace.  We  must  make  our 
thanksgiving  articulate,  not  taciturn,^  that  it  may 
*'  abound  unto  the  glory  of  God,"  may  overflow^  and 
bless  others.  The  minister  bathes  his  heart  and  life 
in  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  As  he  reflects  that  glory 
upon  others,  he  adds  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of 
God  among  men.  "  A  minister  is  no  true  minister 
who  does  not  see  wonder  in  the  child  in  the  cradle 
and  in  the  peasant  in  the  field."  *^  Yes,  and  who 
does  not  win  the  love  of  peasant  and  child. 

1  2  Cor.  iv.  15.  *  Parasthei. 

*  Cf.  I  Cor.  iii.  22 ;  Phil.  i.  19.  <  Denney,  in  loco. 

'  Perisseuo.       «  Stalker, "  The  Preacher  and  His  Models,"  p.  283. 


VI 

THE  WEIGHT   OF  GLORY— THE  INVISI 
BLE  CONSOLATION 

{2  Cor.  tv,  16-V.  8) 

"  While  we  look  not  at  the  things  which 
are  seen,  but  at  the  things  which  are 
not  seen." 

— 2  Cor.  iv.  18, 


VI 

THE  WEIGHT  OF  GLORY—THE  INVISIBLE 
CONSOLATION 

"  'V  "W"  TE  faint  not,"  Paul  repeats  from  verse 
%/%/  one.  He  faces  all  the  facts  of  life  and 
sees  no  ground  for  despair.  Paul  is  not 
yet  an  old  man,  though  probably  the  marks  of  care 
and  toil  and  exposure  were  upon  his  face.  He  was 
discouraged  before  Titus  came,  but  that  was  not  his 
normal  mood.  He  caught  a  fresh  glimpse  of  the 
Face  of  Christ  and  his  soul  has  been  singing  like  the 
wood  robin.  He  has  taken  stock  of  his  ministry  in 
comparison  with  that  of  the  Old  Covenant.  He 
has  looked  afresh  at  his  own  shortcomings.  He  has 
looked  death  in  the  face,  but  he  is  not  dismayed. 
Once  more  Paul  is  brought  face  to  face  with  the 
eternal  verities  of  life.  He  does  not  shrink  from  the 
look  and  all  that  it  means.  He  ventures  to  interpret 
the  most  sacred  realities  of  the  preacher's  heart. 
What  weighs  most  in  the  scales  of  life,  in  the  minis- 
ter's life  ? 

I .     The  Growth  of  the  Inward  Man 
"  Though  our  outward  man  is  decaying,  yet  our 
inward  man  is  renewed  day  by  day."  *     There  is  no 

*  2  Cor.  iv.  1 6. 

163 


l64  THE  WEIGHT  OF  GLORY 

rebellion  in  Paul's  heart  as  he  faces  old  age  and  death. 
One  of  the  most  beautiful  spectacles  in  all  the  world 
is  that  of  an  old  minister  with  a  young  heart,  who 
has  learned  how  to  grow  old  gracefully  and  be  a 
benediction  to  all  about  him.  Paul  is  constantly 
surrounded  by  a  band  of  young  preachers  who  fill 
his  heart  with  joy  as  he  sees  them  enter  the  thick  of 
the  fight  with  him.  These  young  ministers  are 
'•  willing  to  follow  him  through  fire  and  water."  * 
There  is  no  "  dead-line  "  for  Paul.  The  older  a  min- 
ister becomes  the  richer  he  is  in  spiritual  knowledge 
and  power.  Alexander  Maclaren  at  eighty  years  of 
age  was  a  greater  personality  than  at  fifty ,^  A  man's 
intellectual  and  spiritual  decay  comes  when  he  ceases 
to  study,  to  work,  to  exercise,  to  grow.  It  is  a  min- 
ister's duty  not  to  be  prodigal  of  his  physical  strength, 
to  use  his  physical  force  with  wisdom  and  power  for 
God,  but  a  minister  can  be  too  particular  with  him- 
self for  any  use  in  the  world.  It  is  better  to  wear 
out  than  to  rust  out,  though  there  is  no  special  call 
for  one  to  hurry  up  the  process  of  decay.  But 
"  Paul  could  not  mistake,  and  did  not  hide  from 
himself,  the  effect  which  his  apostolic  work  had 
upon  him.  He  saw  it  was  kiiUng  him.  He  was 
old  long  before  his  time.     He  was  a  sorely  broken 

»  Stalker,  "The  Preacher  and  His  Models,"  p.  i6i. 
2  Some  churches  are   guilty  of  a  crime  in  closing  the  door  of  use- 
fulness in  the  face  of  the  greatest  men  because  old. 


THE  INVISIBLE  CONSOLATION  165 

man  at   an  age  when  many  are  in  the  fullness  of 
their    strength.     The    earthen    vessel    was    visibly 
crumbUng."  *     The  exposures  and  hardships  thrust 
upon    Paul  by  his   enemies   had   left   their   mark^ 
in  many  ways.     The  end  of  this  gradual  dissolution 
is  bound  to  be  death  sooner  or  later.^     Decay  ^  has 
become  visible  in  "  the  outward  man."  ^     Paul  has 
not  spoken  of  "  the  outward  man  "  elsewhere,  though- 
he  uses  "  the  old  man  "  ^  in  the  sense  of  the  lower 
fleshly  nature.     Here  he  means  the  material  nature, 
the   physical   abode   of  the  spirit,  the  body.     The 
minister  has  his  physical  trials  as  have  others.     The 
missionaries  in  all  ages  give  a  vivid  picture  of  Paul's 
case,  as,  for  instance,  Adoniram  Judson  at  Oung- 
Pen-La.     But  the  consolation  is  real  and  glorious. 
Paul  is  "  sustained  by  a  glorious  hope."  ^     The  m- 
ward  man  is  renewed  day  by  day.«     "  The  more  the 
marble  wastes,  the  more  the  statue  grows."  ^     It  is 
true    of   all    men    that   the   outward   man   decays. 
"  Time  tires  the  stoutest  runner,  crumbles  the  com- 
pactest  wall."  ^^     But  it  is  not,  alas,  true  of  all  that 
there   is   a  daily  refreshment  of  "  the  inner  man." 
This  expression  he  uses  twice  elsewhere."     It  is  a 

1  Denney,  in  loco.  «  Gal.  vi.  17.  »  Stanley,  in  loco. 

*  Diaphtheiretai. 

'  The  condition  here  assumes  the  reality  of  the  decay. 

6  Cf  Eph.  iv.  22  ;  Col.  iii.  9.  ''  Bernard,  in  loco,    e  2  Cor.  iv.  lb. 

»Line  attributed  to  Michael  Angelo.     Cf.  Stanley,  mjoco. 

»o  Denney,  in  loco.  "  ^Ro"^-  v".  2  }  Eph.  lu.  16. 


I66  THE  WEIGHT  OF  GLORY 

most  expressive  figure  for  the  spiritual  and  moral 
nature.  He  uses  "  the  new  man  "  '  in  contrast  with 
"  the  old  man  "  as  a  description  of  the  new  life  in 
Christ  after  regeneration.  One  who  is  in  Christ  is  a 
new  creature  (creation).^  One  puts  off  the  old  man 
and  puts  on  the  new  man  like  a  new  garment.^  He 
does  not  here  mean  the  new  birth  by  "  renewed  "  as 
he  does  by  another  word  in  Ephesians  iv.  23/  nor  is 
he  exactly  contemplating  the  progressive  restoration 
of  the  image  of  God  by  the  work  of  sanctification  as 
in  Colossians  iii.  10.®  Here  Paul  is  thinking  of  "  the 
daily  supply  of  spiritual  power  for  apostoHc  service."* 
He  is  as  one  whose  youth  is  renewed  like  the  eagle. 
Each  morning  brings  fresh  supply  of  grace  like 
manna  from  heaven.  He  is  ready  for  the  new  day 
by  reason  of  the  new  and  never-failing  store  of 
spiritual  energy  which  is  communicated  to  him. 
"  When  I  am  weak,  then  am  I  strong "  ^  with  a 
strength  not  his  own.  With  Paul  it  is  the  triumph 
of  the  moral  and  spiritual  forces  over  the  material 
decay.  He  is  strengthened  with  might  by  the  Spirit 
in  the  inner  man.^  The  minister  who  thus  lives  in 
vital  contact  with  God  is  never  old.  He  can  laugh 
at  disease,  decay,  and  death.    "  The  Lord  stood  by 

»  Cf,  Col.  iii.  10.  2  cf,  2  Cor.  iii.  17. 

3  Eph.  iv.  24  ;  Col.  iii.  10.                               <  Cf.  also  Tit.  iii.  5. 

^  Cf.  Rom.  xii.  2.  ^  Denney,  in  loco. 

T  2  Cor.  xii.  10.  8  Eph.  iii.  16. 


THE  INVISIBLE  CONSOLATION  167 

me,  and  strengthened  me,"  *  Paul  will  say  at  the 
end  as  he  looks  death  squarely  in  the  face.  Yea, 
says  Paul,  "  I  can  do  all  things  in  Him  that  strength- 
eneth  me."  ^  This  is  the  mighty  preacher,  he  who 
puts  the  chief  accent  on  the  development  of  spiritual 
muscle  and  fibre  for  the  work  of  Christ.  | 

2.  The  Work  of  Affliction 
"  For  our  light  affliction,  which  is  for  the  moment, 
worketh  for  us  more  and  more  exceedingly  an  eternal 
weight  of  glory."  3  With  these  wonderful  words 
Paul  soars  above  all  notion  of  controversy  ^  with  the 
Judaizers  and  wings  his  way  to  a  height  on  the 
mountain  far  above  cloud  and  storm.  On  this  glory- 
crowned  summit  Paul  stands  serene  and  balances  the 
affliction  of  his  earthly  ministry  with  the  glory  which 
is  his.  He  is  Hke  one  rapt  in  vision  and  probably 
dictates  this  sentence  "  fast  and  with  beating  heart."  ^ 
He  is  interpreting  his  life  and  ministry  in  the  hght 
of  the  Cross  and  the  light  of  the  Risen  and  Glorious 
Christ.^  Every  word  is  here  weighed  against  an- 
other. The  affliction^  is  matched  with  the  glory.^ 
He  does  not  so  much  minimize  the  affliction  as  mag- 
nify the  glory.  It  matters  little,  the  toil  and  stress 
by  the  way,  now  that  the  end  is  in  sight.     Standpoint 

*2Tim.  iv.  17.  2  Phil,  iy,  1^.  3  2  Cor.  iv.  17. 

<  Denney,  in  loco.  ^Dgnney,  in  loco.  «  Cf.  Rev.  v.  5  f. 

'  Cf.  Rom.  viii.  17.  *  Cf.  Rom.  viii.  18. 


1 68  THE  WEIGHT  OF  GLORY 

determines  much  for  us  all.  Paul  is  here  looking  at 
earth  with  heaven's  eyes.  If  the  telescope  is  turned 
round,  the  effect  is  very  astonishing.  What  trifles 
our  troubles  will  seem  then !  We  can  use  Paul's 
eyes  if  we  have  difficulty  in  catching  this  view  of 
life's  values.  The  words  "  light "  *  and  "  weight "  ^ 
stand  over  against  each  other.  It  is  really  "  the  light- 
ness of  the  affliction."^  He  seems  to  hold  the  afflic- 
tion in  one  hand  and  the  glory  in  the  other.  The 
word  for  affliction  suggests  a  heavy  weight  and  glory 
seems  intangible  hke  a  cloud,  but  things  are  not  al- 
ways what  they  seem.  Jesus  had  said  that  His  bur- 
den was  light.^  The  glory  seems  to  Paul  actually 
like  a  heavy  burden,  so  great  and  gracious  it  all  is. 
The  word  for  *'  weight  "  is  the  one  used  of  those  who 
bore  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day.^  Once  more, 
Paul  drowns  "  for  the  moment  "  ^  in  "  eternal."  ^ 
The  notion  is  probably  "  present "  in  opposition 
with  "  future."  ^  It  will  seem  short  from  the  point 
of  view  of  eternity,  but  the  affliction  is  confined  to 
the  "  now-time,"  while  the  glory  is  perpetual  with 
the  unending  future.     There  is  no  way  to  challenge 


»  Cf.  Matt.  xi.  30.  2  Burden.     Cf.  Gal.  vi.  2. 

8  Classic  idiom,  article  and  neuter  adjective  like  a  substantive. 

*  Matt.  xi.  30. 

^  Matt.  XX.    12.     The  Hebrew  word  (Gen.   xviii.  20;  Job  vi.  3) 
means  both  to  be  heavy  and  to  be  glorious. 

•  Here  only  in  the  New  Testament. 

'  Aionion.  8  Meyer,  Bernard. 


THE  INVISIBLE  CONSOLATION  169 

the  noble  sentiment  here  expressed,  if  one  holds  to 
a  belief  in  immortality.  Paul  does  not  mean  that 
there  is  no  glory  in  the  ministry  here.  Far  from  it. 
But  even  if  it  were  all  tribulation,  the  glory  to  come 
would  more  than  make  amends.  Thus  one  sees  that 
the  most  of  the  minister's  reward  lies  in  the  future, 
in  the  beyond,  in  the  glory  to  be  given  by  Jesus. 
That  is  the  consolation  of  the  true  preacher.  He 
does  not  enter  the  ministry  to  make  money,  to  get 
honour,  power,  fame.  Paul  himself  had  turned  his 
back  on  all  the  allurements  of  life  when  he  surren- 
dered to  Christ  on  the  way  to  Damascus.  He  is  not 
in  the  least  complaining  now.  He  does  not  admit 
that  the  preacher  should  not  have  adequate  remuner- 
ation. He  often  argued  that  he  should.*  But  no 
salary  could  offer  pay  enough  for  the  work  of  the 
ministry  if  that  were  all.  Men  to-day  receive  salaries 
of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year  who  are  not 
comparable  in  character  and  worth  as  men  for  the 
real  welfare  of  the  world  with  ministers  who  do  not 
receive  a  twentieth  of  that  sum.  A  '*  trust "  presi- 
dent gets  all  his  pay  in  money.  The  minister  re- 
ceives most  of  his  in  glory,  and  most  of  that  in  the 
next  world.  But  just  this  difference  is  all  the  differ- 
ence between  the  material  man  and  the  spiritual  man. 
The  minister  is  entitled  to  a  decent  competency  and 
1  Cf.  I  Cor.  ix. 


lyo  THE  WEIGHT  OF  GLORY 

a  church  should  be  ashamed  to  stint  the  man  who 
breaks  to  them  the  bread  of  life.  But  no  amount  of 
money  could  pay  Paul  for  all  that  he  had  undergone. 
He  did  it  "  for  Christ's  sake,"  and  Christ  had  not  for- 
gotten him.  **  The  law  of  our  humanity  is  Hfe  out 
of  decay ;  the  type  and  exemplification  of  which  is 
the  Cross  of  Christ.  And  this  is  the  soother  of  afflic- 
tion— this  one  steadfast  thought — the  glory  which  is 
being  worked  out  thereby."  ^  This  is  Paul's  philos- 
ophy of  trouble.  It  works  out"^  the  glory  for  us. 
"  Except  a  grain  of  wheat  fall  into  the  earth  and  die, 
it  abideth  alone ;  but  if  it  die,  it  beareth  much  fruit. 
He  that  loveth  his  life  loseth  it ;  and  he  that  hateth 
his  life  in  this  world  shall  keep  it  unto  life  eternal. 
If  any  man  serve  Me,  let  him  follow  Me ;  and  where 
I  am,  there  shall  also  My  servant  be ;  if  any  man 
serve  Me,  him  will  the  Father  honour."  ^  Affliction 
has  glory  as  its  fruit  only  when  borne  in  the  spirit  of 
the  Cross  of  Jesus.  Trouble  drives  many  to  despair, 
to  shame,  to  sensual  excess  and  stupor,  to  death. 
"  But  go  and  tell  him  of  the  law  in  Christ ;  tell  him 
that  He  has  borne  the  Cross ;  and  there  is  the  pe- 
culiar Christian  feeling  of  comfort,  with  all  its  tender- 
ness, humanity,  zxvA  personality y  ^  But  Paul  has  not 
seen  the  whole  of  this  mountain  of  glory — to  change 

»  F.  W.  Robertson, «« Life  and  Letters,"  p.  633. 

'  Katergazetai.  3  John  xii.  24-26. 

*  F.  W.  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  p.  633. 


THE  INVISIBLE  CONSOLATION  17I 

his  figure.  The  working  goes  on  "  more  and  more 
exceedingly."  *  He  Hterally  piles  Ossa  on  Pelion  in 
an  effort  to  describe  the  vastness  of  the  glory  which 
is  in  store  for  him  and  every  toiler  for  Christ.  He 
loves  to  pile  adverbs  on  top  of  adverbs  like  one  big 
boulder  on  top  of  another  in  a  riot  of  power.^  There 
is  the  failure  of  language  to  compass  the  greatness  of 
his  conception.  But  the  eye  of  faith  can  supply  the 
rest.^  Paul  has  expounded  this  interpretation  of  life 
elsewhere  also  with  much  power.^ 

3.  The  Vision  of  the  Unseen 
"  While  we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen, 
but  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen :  for  the  things 
which  are  seen  are  temporal ;  but  the  things  which 
are  not  seen  are  eternal."^  Paul  is  looking^  into  the 
distance  like  a  watchman  peering  far  ahead.  It  is 
the  calm  triumphant  contemplation  of  a  conqueror. 
«*  We  can  well  believe  that  the  pressure  was  relaxed, 
and  that  the  pen  moved  more  steadily  and  slowly 
over  the  contemplative  words  that  follow."^  It  is 
more  than  a  glimpse  or  a  momentary  rhapsody  of 
spiritual  exaltation  that  Paul  here  means.  It  is  the 
whole  world-outlook^  that   is  under  consideration. 


>  From  excess  to  excess.      2  cf_  Eph_  jii,  20.      ^  cf.  i  Cor.  ii.  9  f. 
4  Cf.  Rom.  viii.  26-39  ;  Eph,  iii.  14-21.  6  2  Cor.  iv.  18. 

«  Cf.  Phil.  iii.  14.         '  Denney,  in  loco.  ^  Welt-anschauung. 


172  THE  WEIGHT   OF  GLORY 

No  other  standpoint  will  move  the  preacher  to  un- 
dergo the  sacrifices  to  which  he  is  called.  Moses, 
whose  glory  Paul  has  been  considering,  chose  rather  to 
"  share  ill-treatment  with  the  people  of  God,  than  to 
enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season  ;  accounting 
the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treas- 
ures of  Egypt ;  for  he  looked  unto  the  recompense 
of  reward.  By  faith  he  forsook  Egypt,  not  fearing 
the  wrath  of  the  king :  for  he  endured  as  seeing  Him 
who  is  invisible."  *  These  words  seem  written  about 
Paul.  Moses,  the  greatest  man  in  the  Jewish  Dis- 
pensation, as  the  Jews  counted  greatness,  was  great 
just  because,  when  God  appeared  to  him  at  the  Burn- 
ing Bush,  he  recognized  the  Invisible  God,  and  placed 
the  Unseen  above  the  seen.  So  he  stood  in  the 
sands  of  Egypt  and  cast  his  lot  with  the  people  of 
God  in  their  poverty  and  weakness  and  led  them  out 
and  on  through  the  wilderness  towards  the  Land  of 
Promise.  And  Paul  too  followed  the  gleam.  Come 
what  may,  he  is  content.  "  Yea,  and  if  I  am  offered 
upon  the  sacrifice  of  your  faith,  I  joy,  and  rejoice  with 
you  all."  2  «'  I  will  most  gladly  spend  and  be  spent 
for  your  souls."  ^  It  is  not  merely  the  power  to  see 
what  is  in  the  distance  that  is  in  Paul's  mind,  though 
that  is  true.  The  preacher  should  be  able  to  look  at 
life  in  its  whole,  not  in  a  fragment  or  section.     It  is 

»  Heb.  xi.  25-27.  2  Phil,  ii,  17.  ^2  Cor.  xii.  15. 


THE   INVISIBLE  CONSOLATION  1 73 

part,  a  large  part,  of  the  minister's  work  to  help  peo- 
ple to  see  things  as  they  are,  to  brush  away  the  cob- 
webs and  the  dust  of  business  strife ;  to  call  men  back 
to  a  just  view  of  life.  But  there  is  more  here  than 
the  future  reward  of  eternal  glory.  Much  that  is  un- 
seen is  invisible,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  in  any 
material  sense.^  The  soul  is  invisible,  duty  is  in- 
visible, principle  is  invisible,  love  is  invisible.  The 
greatest  and  best  things  are  not  seen  nor  handled. 
They  are  the  things  of  the  spirit.  "  Finally,  brethren, 
whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever  things  are 
honourable,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever 
things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatso- 
ever things  are  of  good  report ;  if  there  be  any  virtue, 
and  if  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things."  ^ 
It  is  just  because  it  is  so  hard  for  the  average  man  to 
catch  and  keep  this  spiritual  interpretation  of  life 
that  the  call  is  so  great  to-day  for  men  of  vision  in 
the  ministry.  There  is  little  use  for  any  other  sort. 
The  seer  is  the  man  who  tells  what  he  has  seen.  The 
prophetic  vision  is  essential  to-day  if  ministers  wish 
to  grip  and  hold  the  consciences  of  men.  The 
things  that  are  seen  ^  are  temporary.*  Out  of  the 
conflict  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  spiritual  in- 
terpretation of  the  universe  is  triumphant.     "  In  the 

»  F.  W.  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  p.  633. 

»  Phil.  iv.  8.  >  Cf.  Rom.  i.  20.  ■*  Cf.  Heb.  xi.  25. 


174  THE  WEIGHT  OF  GLORY 

beginning  God."  We  come  back  to  that.  We  start 
with  God.  The  universe  which  we  see  with  our  eyes 
is  merely  the  expression  of  God's  will  which  we  do 
not  see  with  our  eyes.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  in- 
visible things  are  clearly  seen  with  the  mind's  eye  if 
the  eye  is  open.*  Paul  is  gazing  at  the  eternal.  He 
sees  beyond  the  things  of  sense.  He  is  a  practical 
idealist.  He  is  not,  to  be  sure,  using  metaphysical 
terms  in  a  fine-spun  distinction  between  nomnena  and 
phenofne7ia.  He  goes  deeper  than  philosophical 
terms.  His  eye  is  on  God  and  Christ.  All  else  sinks 
out  of  sight,  "  looking  unto  Jesus  the  author  and 
perfecter  of  our  faith."  ^  "  Distrust  of  the  super- 
natural, insistence  on  the  present  and  the  practical, 
and  the  pride  of  a  self-styled  common  sense,  have 
done  much  to  rob  Christianity  of  this  vast  horizon, 
to  blind  it  to  this  heavenly  vision."  ^  It  is  all  very 
well  to  decry  too  much  "  other-worldHness  "  on  the 
part  of  impractical  visionaries,  but  most  men  need 
this  heavenly  vision.  We  need  our  feet  on  the  earth, 
but  we  should  see  the  heavens  opened.  We  are  not 
going  to  make  earth  an  Eden  without  the  vision  of 
Eden.  All  social  reform  should  be  linked  on  to  the 
spiritual  impulse,  else  it  too  will  be  transitory  and 
pass  away.  When  all  other  men  clamour  so  much 
about  time,  the  preacher  may  be  allowed  to  call  men 

»  Rom.  i.  20.  » Heb.  xii.  2.  »  Denney,  in  loco. 


THE  INVISIBLE  CONSOLATION  175 

to  the  contemplation  of  eternity  and  to  a  life  here 
and  now  in  view  of  eternity. 

4.     The  Earthly  Tabernacle 
*'  For  we  know  that  if  the  earthly  house  of  our 
tabernacle  be   dissolved,  we  have  a  building  from 
God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens."^     These   words   bring   Paul  face  to  face 
with  death  as  the  outcome  of  his  struggles.     True, 
Jesus  may  come  before  death  overtakes  him.     That 
is  his  sincere  desire.     He  really  groans  ^  with  a  pas- 
sionate longing  3  to  be  clothed  upon^  with  the  habi- 
tation ^  from  heaven  which  will  be  his  at  the  Second 
Coming  of  Christ  without  death,  if  he  lives  till  then. 
This   is   the   probable  meaning  of  this  mixture  of 
metaphors  which  was  natural  to  Paul  since  the  tent 
cloth  used  by  him  in  making  tents  was  also  used  for 
garments.^     As  a  matter  of  fact  no  single  metaphor 
could  express  all  that  Paul  wishes  to  say.^     The  new 
body  at  the  Second  Coming  will  come  upon«  the 
old  without  the  decay  of  death.     He  is  not  anxious 
to  drop  the  old,  but  to  have  the  new.^     Herodotus  ^» 
tells  of  a  Corinthian  queen  who,  after  death,  appeared 
to  her  husband  and  asked  him  to  burn  dresses  for 

1  2  Cor.  V.  I.  '2  Cor.  v.  2,  4.  '  Cf  2  Cor.  ix.  14. 

4Cf.Johnxxi.7.  ,S^-J^^I^'    /. 

6  Stanley,  in  loco.     Cf.  Psa.  xciv.  2.  '  Bernard,  xn  loco. 

^  Ependusasthai.  ,     ,  » 2  Lor.  v.  4. 

10  Herodotus,  V.  92.    Cf.  Stanley,  in  loco. 


176  THE  WEIGHT   OF  GLORY 

her  so  that  she  may  have  clothing  for  her  disem- 
bodied spirit.  Paul  has  no  such  crude  idea  as  that. 
*'  Knowledge  and  ignorance,  doubt  and  certitude,  are 
remarkably  blended  in  these  words.  The  apostle 
knows  what  many  men  are  not  certain  of;  the 
apostle  doubts  as  to  what  all  men  now  are  certain 
of."  '  He  is  not  certain  ^  that  he  will  die,  for  Jesus 
may  come  first.  He  is  certain  that,  if  death  comes 
first,  he  has  already  the  title  to  a  heavenly  body  far 
more  glorious  than  the  earthly  one.  With  measured 
words  he  balances  the  tent^  which  contains  his  spirit 
here  on  earth  with  the  house  *  which  will  be  his  in 
heaven.  His  business  as  a  tent-maker  makes  the 
metaphor  very  pertinent  to  Paul.  The  wanderings 
of  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness  when  they  dwelt 
in  tents  on  their  way  to  the  Promised  Land  also  oc- 
cur to  one  naturally.  The  tent  is  struck^  at  the 
breaking  up  of  camp  or  by  wind  or  storm.  The  tent 
is  therefore  temporary  while  the  house  is  stable  and 
eternal.  The  tent  is  on  earth,^  while  the  house  from 
God  is  in  heaven.  The  tent  is  tangible  while  the 
house  is  not  made  with  hands  as  Paul  made  the  tents 
of  cloth.     At  every  point  death  brings  a  blessing  in 


*  Maclaren,  "  Expositions  of  Holy  Scripture,"  in  loco. 
'  Third  class  condition.     Cf.  Robertson,  ««  Short  Grammar  of  the 
Greek  New  Testament,"  p.  163. 

3  Skenos,  not  skene.  *  Oikia. 

«  Torn  down.     Cf.  Gal.  ii.  18.  «  Cf.  Phil.  ii.  10. 


THE  INVISIBLE  CONSOLATION  1 77 

comparison  with  the  earthly  tabernacle  of  the  Spirit. 
The  note  of  confidence  rings  in  Paul's  words,  "  We 
know  ^  that  we  have."  ^  Let  death  do  its  worst  and 
Paul  is  more  than  conqueror  through  Him  that  loves 
him.2  There  is  perhaps  an  echo  in  Paul's  memory  of 
the  wonderful  lyric  of  the  spiritual  body  in  i  Corin- 
thians XV.  42-49.  Paul  does  not  despise  the  wonder- 
ful organism  which  he  here  calls  a  tent,  but  he  justly 
understands  that  it  is  only  the  temporary  abode  of 
the  eternal  spirit  which  is  to  live  with  Christ  in 
heaven. 

5.  At  Home  With  the  Lord 
"  We  are  of  good  courage,  I  say,  and  are  willing 
rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and  to  be  at  home 
with  the  Lord."  ^  Paul  has  a  heavenly  homesick- 
ness.^ He  feels  in  a  sense  absent^  from  the  Lord. 
He  is  away  from  home  and,  gracious  as  are  the  won- 
derful glimpses  of  the  Face  of  Christ  which  he  has 
here,  they  will  be  far  surpassed  by  the  constant  pres- 
ence with  Jesus  in  heaven.  He  is  thinking  of  what 
it  will  be  to  be  at  home  ^  with  the  Lord,  to  sit  at  the 
feet  of  Jesus  and  look  Him  in  the  face^  to  his  heart's 
content,  that  wondrous   face  which  looked  at  him  on 

1  Clear  conviction.  2  Present  tense.  ^  Rom.  viii.  37. 

^  2  Cor.  V.  8.  5  Bernard,  in  loco. 

6  Ekdeineo.     The  Greek  word  occurs  only  in  this  passage  in  the 
New  Testament. 

'  Endemeo.  ^  Pros. 


178  THE  WEIGHT  OF  GLORY 

the  Damascus  road.  Then  what  is  mortal  will  be 
swallowed  up  of  life.*  He  has  even  here  and  now 
the  earnest^  of  the  Spirit  as  a  precious  foretaste  of 
what  is  in  store  for  him.  God  wrought  the  joy  of 
the  present  and  God  will  bring  the  full  fruition  in 
His  own  good  time.  He  has  the  conception  of 
heaven  that  Jesus  gives  in  John  xiv.  1-3,  that  of 
home.  There  is  no  richer  word  than  that.  It  is 
therefore  with  good  courage^  that  Paul  looks  upon 
death  as  a  friend  rather  than  as  a  foe.  It  is  not  a 
cold  river  with  Charon  to  row  him  over  the  dark 
waters.  It  is  rather  the  portal  to  heaven,  and  Jesus 
stands  at  the  door  with  outstretched  hand  to  welcome 
the  absent  one  home.  He  will  many  a  time  sigh  for 
home  and  rest,  to  depart  '*  and  be  with  Christ.  But, 
meanwhile,  he  is  ready  for  work.  He  has  no  notion 
of  folding  his  hands  and  doing  nothing.^  The 
"  weight  of  glory  "  is  an  inspiration  at  the  end  of  a 
full  day's  work,  not  an  air-castle  to  take  the  place  of 
duty  here  and  now.  Paul's  other-worldliness  took 
the  form  of  making  him  more  aggressive  against  all 
sin  and  wrong  in  this  world. 

»  2  Cor.  V.  4.  «  Cf.  2  Cor.  i.  22.  ^  2  Cor.  v.  6,  8. 

*  Cf.  Phil.  i.  23.  s  Cf.  Phil.  i.  24^26. 


VII 

WELL   PLEASING   UNTO    HIM— THE 
PREACHER'S  MASTER  PASSION 

{2  Cor.  V.  p-2i) 

**  Wherefore  we  make  it  our  aim,  whether 
at  home  or  absent,  to  be  well  pleasing 
unto  Him." 

— 2  Cor.  V.  g. 


VII 

WELL    PLEASING  UNTO    HIM— THE 
PREACHER'S  MASTER  PASSION 

I.  Paul's  Ambition 
«"m"  "V"  TTE  are  ambitious  to  be  well  pleasing  unto 
\/\/  Him."  '  Come  life,  come  death,  Paul's 
ambition  was  one  and  the  same.  Am- 
bition is  a  word  in  ill-repute.  It  comes  from  the  Latin 
umbo,  both.  The  Roman  politicians,  eager  to  get 
office,  could  get  on  both  sides  of  a  proposition,  to 
curry  favour  with  the  people.  They  would  face  both 
ways  at  once.  It  was  applied  to  a  man  who  would 
go  any  lengths  to  carry  his  selfish  ends.  But  there 
is  a  good  side  to  the  word,  bad  as  the  origin  of  the 
Enghsh  word  is.  The  Greek  ^  word  has  a  much 
nobler  origin.  It  means  to  be  fond  of  honour.  One 
is  actuated  by  a  love  of  honour  to  strive  for  noble 
ends.  Paul  exhorts  the  Thessalonians  to  be  ambi- 
tious to  be  quiet.^  He  is  himself  ambitious  to 
preach  the  Gospel  where  other  men  have  not  been 
so  as  not  to  build  upon  another  man's  foundation.^ 
With  Paul  it  is  a  matter  of  honour  ^  to  please  Christ. 

^  2  Cor.  V.  9.  ^  Philo-th7ieomai.  3  i  Thess.  iv.  ii. 

4  Rom,  XV.  20.  6  Meyer,  in  loco. 

i8z 


l82  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO  HIM 

Surely  this  is  a  perfectly  legitimate  ambition.*  Since 
he  surrendered  to  Christ  that  has  been  the  master 
motive  of  his  Hfe,  to  be  well  pleasing  to  Him.  This 
deep  undertone  comes  to  the  surface  often  in  his 
Epistles.^  He  is  hke  the  musician  who  cares  naught 
for  the  applause  of  the  audience  if  he  can  catch  the 
eye  of  approval  from  the  master  who  taught  him. 
He  is  under  orders  and  his  constant  aim  is  to  please 
his  great  taskmaster.  «•  He  that  judgeth  me  is  the 
Lord."  ^  Paul  brought  "  every  thought  into  captivity 
to  the  obedience  of  Christ."  ^  He  stands  entranced 
by  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ.^  There  is 
no  comfort  in  Paul  for  the  nerveless,  spineless  minis- 
ter who  is  afraid  of  his  shadow,  who  runs  at  a  whis- 
per, who  lacks  virility,  who  speaks  peace  when  there 
is  no  peace,  who  is  satisfied  with  things  as  they  are, 
who  watches  for  the  praise  of  the  groundlings,  who 
trims  his  sail  to  every  wind  that  blows,  who  caters 
to  popular  taste,  however  maudlin  and  sensational. 
The  minister  without  ambition  will  accomplish  noth- 
ing for  God  or  man,  only  let  his  ambition  not  be  the 
feverish  restlessness  to  get  another  man's  place  and 
an  unwillingness  to  do  a  full  man's  work  where  he  is. 
Here  is  a  true  word :  ^   "He  will  make  but  a  poor 

>  "  HcBc  una  ambitio  legitima,''  Bengel. 

>Rom.  xii.  i  f.;    xiv.  i8;    Eph.  v.  lo ;    Phil.  iv.  l8;    Col.  iii.  lo; 
Tit.  ii.  9. 

3  I  Cor.  iv.  4.  4  2  Cor.  x.  5.  62  Cor.  x.  I. 

•  Stalker, ««  The  Preacher  and  His  Models,"  p.  207. 


THE  preacher's  MASTER  PASSION       1 83 

minister  who  would  not  be  an  earnest  worker  for  God 
and  man,  even  if  he  were  not  a  minister."  There  are 
few  preachers  who  do  not  have  a  sporadic  ambition 
to  please  Christ.  The  trouble  is  to  hold  one's  self  to 
this  high  ideal  year  in  and  year  out.  So  many  com- 
pHcations  will  arise,  so  many  interruptions  to  one's 
work,  so  rapidly  the  time  slips  by.  The  sermon 
does  not  get  the  work  that  it  ought  to  have.  The 
visits  are  not  made  that  are  clamouring  for  attention. 
The  work  does  not  get  on.  A  fresh  look  at  the  Un- 
wearied Christ  will  spur  one  on  to  the  best  and  the 
highest.  The  child  comes  to  the  father  for  approval 
of  his  toy.  The  minister  will  one  day  meet  Christ 
who  will  inspect  his  work.  Praise  is  sweet,  but  the 
praise  from  Christ  will  be  sweetest  of  all,  if  He  says  : 
"  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant ;  enter  thou 
into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 

2.  The  Judgment- Seat  of  Christ 
"  For  we  must  all  be  made  manifest  before  the 
judgment-seat  of  Christ."  *  This  solemn  outlook  is 
not  confined  to  preachers.  Paul  has  been  using  the 
literary  plural  freely,  but  here  he  is  careful  to  include 
"  all."  2  The  point  to  press  is  that  ministers  are  in 
no  wise  exempt.     The  Bema  ^  was  a  lofty  seat  at  the 

1  2  Cor.  V.  10.  2  ^^  both  living  and  dead. 

*  Cf.  Stanley,  in  loco. 


l84  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO   HLM 

end  of  the  Basilica  on  a  high  platform.  The  judge 
could  thus  be  seen  towering  above  the  crowd.  The 
more  common  figure  for  the  judgment  is  a  throne.* 
But  this  is  a  most  impressive  picture.^  Jesus  had 
claimed  ^  to  be  the  Judge  and  Paul  understands  that 
fact  clearly.  Part  of  the  penalty  for  sin  is  the  con- 
firmation in  sin.  Each  one  receives  *  the  things  done 
in  the  body.  In  this  sense  God's  punishments  are 
not  arbitrary,  but  are  the  inevitable  development  of 
the  man's  real  self.^  **  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth, 
that  shall  he  also  reap."  ^  "  And  he  that  is  filthy,  let 
him  be  made  filthy  still."  '  The  key- word  in  Paul's 
word  in  2  Corinthians  v.  lo  is  "  made  manifest."  ^ 
We  must  be  made  manifest,  like  an  open  book,  right 
in  the  presence^  of  Christ.  The  white  hght  of  eternal 
truth  will  beat  down  upon  us  and  our  works.  Paul 
describes  ^^  the  pitiful  phght  of  those  religious  teach- 
ers who  will  themselves  be  saved  so  as  by  fire,  but 
the  whole  fabric  of  their  life-work  and  teaching  will 
be  burned  up  like  wood,  hay,  or  stubble.  There  is 
no  reward  to  the  preacher  who  builds  with  that  sort 
of  material.     The  ordeal  of  fire  is  before  the  work  of 


1  Cf.  Matt.  XXV.  31  ;  Rev.  xx,  ii.  '  Cf.  Rom.  xiv.  10. 

'  Matt.  XXV.  31  ft". ;  xxvi.  64.  *  Gets  back  in  full. 

»  Cf.  F.  W.  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  p.  639. 
8  Gal.  vi.  7. 

'  Rev.  xxii.  11,     «<  In  this  world  we  have  not  seen  the  last  of  any- 
thing."    Denney,  in  loco. 

^YiQTo.  phancros.  ^  Etnprosthen,  >o  I  Cor.  iii.  12-15. 


THE  PREACHER'S   MASTER   PASSION       185 

every  preacher  and  Christian.  Indeed,  so  solemn  is 
Paul's  sense  of  responsibility  as  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel  that  he  buffeted '  his  body  "  lest  by  any  means, 
after  I  have  preached  to  others,  I  myself  should  be 
rejected."  ^  He  took  no  chances  with  his  own  soul. 
*'  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  have  become  Papists,  infi- 
dels, freethinkers,  and  plotted  the  destruction  of  what 
they  once  professed  to  prize.  We  may  be  apostles, 
and  yet,  like  Judas,  turn  out  to  be  sons  of  perdition. 
Woe  unto  us  if  this  be  the  case."  ^  John  Owen 
pungently  said :  *«  No  man  preaches  his  sermon  well 
to  others  if  he  doth  not  first  preach  it  to  his  own 
heart."  With  preachers  as  with  all  men  "  the  pathos 
of  life  is  the  disproportion  betwen  the  promise  and 
the  reality."  ^  There  is  truth  in  what  Forsyth^  says  : 
"  The  deadliest  Pharisaism  is  not  hypocrisy ;  it  is  the 
unconscious  Pharisaism  of  unreahty."  The  result  of 
this  tremendous  responsibility  is  not  to  dissuade  a 
man  from  entering  the  ministry,  but  to  incite  him  to 
his  noblest  endeavour  for  Christ's  sake.  To  shirk 
the  call  of  duty  is  to  incur  the  penalty  of  cowardice, 
which  is  loss  of  self-respect  and  the  lashing  of  con- 
science.    At  any  rate  we  must  all  stand  beside  ^  the 


1  Cf.  Luke  xviii.  5.  ^  i  Cor.  ix.  27. 

3  Spurgeon,  "  Lectures  to  Students,"  Second  Series,  p.  43. 

4  Hoyt,  "  The  Preacher,"  p.  24. 

6  "  Positive  Preaching  and  the  Modern  Mind,"  p.  175. 
*  Cf.  Rom.  xiv.  10. 


1 86  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO  HIM 

judgment-seat  of  God  in  the  end  of  the  day.  "  And 
there  is  no  creature  that  is  not  manifest  in  His  sight : 
but  all  things  are  naked  and  laid  open  before  the 
eyes  of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do."  '  The  goal 
before  us  all  is  to  please  Jesus  who  is  our  chief 
Helper  and  Friend  in  His  work.  Epicurus  wrote  to 
his  friend :  "  I  tell  this  not  to  the  world  but  to  thee ; 
for  we  are  a  great  enough  theatre  one  to  the  other." 
On  this  Dr.  David  Smith ^  comments:  "And  the 
Presence  of  Jesus  is  our  Theatre.  The  King  is  in  the 
audience,  and  His  eye  is  upon  us.  He  is  observing 
how  we  comport  ourselves  upon  the  stage,  and  before 
His  Face  we  dare  not  play  an  ignoble  part.  His 
commendation  is  enough." 

3.  Persuading  Men 
"  We  persuade  men."  ^  Paul  probably  means, "  we 
try  to  persuade  men."  ^  He  is  successful  with  some, 
but  not  with  all.  At  Athens  some  mocked.^  At 
Rome  Paul  spent  a  whole  day  persuading  the  Jews 
concerning  Jesus.  Some  believed,  and  some  disbe- 
lieved.^ One  incentive  before  Paul  at  this  moment  is 
the  fear  of  the  Lord.  With  the  judgment-seat  of 
Christ  in  mind  he  seeks  to  be  faithful  to  the  men  of 
his  generation.     He  is  sure  that   God  understands 

*  Heb,  iv.  13.  '"The  Face  of  Jesus,"  p.  46. 

3  2  Cor.  V.  II.  *Conative  present.  ^  Acts  xvii.  32. 

^  Acts  xxviii.  23  f. 


THE  PREACHER'S  MASTER  PASSION       187 

him  and  he  hopes  that  the  consciences »  of  the  Corin- 
thians approve  the  sincerity  and  faithfulness  of  his 
ministry.     Paul's  knowledge  of  the  terror  of  the  Lord 
made   him  zealous  to  persuade  men.     He  was  no 
rhetorical  thunderer  about  the  horrors  of  hell  who 
went  home  with  zest  unimpaired.^     "We  must  re- 
gain our  sense  of  soul  greatness,  and  our  sense  of  its 
eternal  price."  ^    In  the  "  Memoirs  of  Dr.  Chalmers  "  ^ 
there  is  an  extract  from  his  diary  which  is  a  revela- 
tion of  his  great  spirit  in  his  attitude  towards  the 
work  of  the  ministry.     "  Prayed  for  knowledge,  for 
the  understanding  and  impression  and  remembrance 
of  God's  Word;  for  growth  in  grace,  for   personal 
holiness,  for  that  sanctification  which  the  redeemed 
undergo.     Thought  of  the  sins  that  most  easily  beset 
me ;  confessed  them,  and  prayed  for  correction  and 
deliverance.     They  are — anxiety  about  worldly  mat- 
ters, when  any  suspicion  or  uncertainty  attaches  to 
them ;  a  disposition  to  brood  over  provocations  ;  im- 
patience at  the  irksome  peculiarities  of  others;  an 
industriousness  from  a  mere  principle  of  animal  ac- 
tivity, without  the  glory  of  God  and  the  service  of 
mankind  lying  at  the  bottom  of  it ;  and  above  all,  a 
taste  and  an  appetite  for  human  applause.     My  con- 

»2Cor.  V.  II. 

2  F.  W.  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  p.  640. 

3  Forsyth,  "  Positive  Preaching  and  the  Modern  Mind,"  p.  1 74. 
*  Vol.  I,  p.  288. 


1 88  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO   HIM 

science  smote  me  on  the  subject  of  pulpit  exhibitions. 
I  pray  that  God  may  make  usefulness  the  grand  prin- 
ciple of  my  appearances  there.  Read  the  promises 
annexed  to  faithful  ministers,  and  prayed  for  zeal, 
diligence,  and  ability  in  the  discharge  of  my  minis- 
terial office.  Prayed  for  the  people,  individually  for 
some,  and  generally  for  all  descriptions  of  them. 
Prayed  for  friends  individually,  and  relations.  Read 
the  promises  relative  to  the  progress  of  the  Gospel 
and  conversion  of  the  Jews.  Prayed  for  those  ob- 
jects." It  is  with  this  spirit  that  one  is  able  to  be  all 
things  to  all  men  ^  if  by  all  means  he  may  save  some. 
The  aim  of  one's  ministry  is  the  conversion  of  men 
and  the  training  of  their  souls.  The  evangelistic  and 
teaching  ministry  need  to  be  combined.  There  is  a 
tendency  to-day  to  underrate  the  sermon.  "  The 
sermon  is  the  chmax  of  public  worship.  It  summons 
to  the  throne  of  God  a  larger  number  of  faculties  than 
any  other  act  of  worship.  It  calls  upon  everything 
within  to  bless  God's  holy  name."^  The  sermon 
needs  to  be  magnified,  not  discounted.  But  one 
must  remember  also  that  one's  "  own  tone,  temper, 
and  spirit  in  preaching  "  ^  have  a  deal  to  do  with  the 
conversion  of  sinners.  The  problem  of  every  minis- 
ter is  how  to  make  both  his  preaching  and  Hfe  effect- 

1  I  Cor.  ix.  22. 

'Jefferson,  "The  Building  of  the  Church,"  p.  281. 

•Spurgeon,  "  Lectures  to  Students,"  Second  Series,  p.  277. 


THE  PREACHER'S  MASTER  PASSION       1 89 

ive  in  winning  men  to  Christ.  The  Gospel  remains 
the  same  in  its  essential  content,  but  men  of  every 
age  have  fresh  difficulties  which  have  to  be  met  by  a 
new  appropriation  and  application  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  It  is  not  enough  to  know  the  Bible  and 
other  books.  The  preacher  must  have  a  sympathetic 
knowledge  of  the  men  whom  he  is  to  persuade.* 
"  Each  man  begins  his  destiny  where  the  first  babe 
began,  in  old  sorrows  and  sadness  ;  and  continues  it 
in  old  sins  and  sores."  ^  In  the  work  of  persuasion 
the  minister  will  find  men  who  put  hindrances  in  the 
way  of  his  work.^  It  will  help  little  to  lose  one's 
temper  in  such  case. 

4.  Beside  Ourselves 
**  For  whether  we  are  beside  ourselves,  it  is  unto 
God."  ^  Some  of  the  friends,  possibly  members  of 
His  own  household,  had  once  thought  Jesus  beside 
Himself.^  John  the  Baptist  was  accused  of  having  a 
demon  ^  because  he  was  ascetic  and  abstemious  in  his 
habits.  Jesus  was  called  gluttonous  and  a  wine-bib- 
ber because  He  was  not  ascetic/  The  Pharisees  ex- 
plained the  works  of  Jesus  as  wrought  by  the  devil.^ 

»Cf.  Phelps,  "  Men  and  Books,"  p.  3. 

*  Armitage,  "  Preaching,"  p.  145. 
3  Parker,  "  Ad  Clerum,"  p.  207  f. 

*  2  Cor.  V.  13.  6  Mark  iii.  21. 
6 Matt.  xi.  18,     Cf.  Robertson,  "John  the  Loyal,"  p.  199. 

'  Matt.  xi.  19.  8  Matt.  xii.  24. 


I90  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO  HIM 

In  a  frenzy  of  rage  they  say  that  He  is  a  Samaritan 
and  has  a  demon.*  Paul  probably  is  thinking  of  his 
enemies  in  Corinth  who  had  apologized  for  him  by  say- 
ing that  he  was  not  responsible.^  The  very  visions 
which  Paul  had  had  may  have  been  turned  against 
him  as  proof  of  his  erratic  mentality.^  He  admits 
ironically  that  he  is  playing  the  fool  in  boasting  of 
himself  as  they  had  compelled  him  to  do.^  He  may 
be  here  alluding  to  the  charge  made  against  him  that 
he  was  a  fool.  The  very  earnestness  of  Paul  con- 
cerning the  cause  of  Christ  in  Corinth  was  used  by 
his  enemies  as  proof  as  his  lack  of  balance.  He 
could  be  passionate  in  speech  as  is  shown  by  the 
effect  of  his  address  on  Festus  who  exclaims  in  a 
loud  voice  :  "  Paul,  thou  art  mad  ;  thy  much  learning 
is  turning  thee  mad."^  It  is  one  of  the  commonest 
of  charges  against  zealous  ministers  that  they  are  a 
little  "  off."  It  is  one  of  the  keenest  weapons  of  the 
devil  with  which  to  clip  the  wings  of  a  preacher's 
power.  "  The  disciple  and  the  Master  aHke  seemed 
to  those  who  did  not  understand  them  to  be  in  an 
overstrained,  too  highly- wrought  condition  of  spirit."^ 
Paul  does  not  care  to  deny  that  he  had  lost  himself 
in  his  zeal  for  God.  He  had  a  real  enthusiasm,^  God 
in  him.     A  God-filled  man  seems  crazy  to  a  dead 

1  John  viii.  48.  2  Cf.  our  word  «  ecstasy." 

8  2  Cor.  xii.  1-7.  4  2  Cor.  xi.  1-17.  *  Acts  xxvi.  24. 

•  Dt-nney,  in  loco.  '  Enthousiastnos. 


THE  PREACHER'S   MASTER  PASSION       I9I 

man  of  the  world.  Life  seems  derangement  to  death. 
Paul  could  speak  with  tongues  *  and  that  fact  may 
also  have  been  used  against  him.  So  far  as  Paul  was 
concerned,  he  did  not  care.  It  was  "  to  God,"  for 
the  glory  of  God,  in  the  cause  of  God.  Better  far 
have  a  holy  abandon  for  God  than  too  much  icy  re- 
serve, "  icily  regular,  splendidly  null."  Dr.  A.  C. 
Dixon  says  that  a  graveyard  is  the  most  dignified 
place  on  earth.  A  man  and  a  church  can  have  too 
much  dignity  to  be  of  any  use.  Paul  is  willing  to  be 
considered  beside  himself.  The  preacher  is  dis- 
counted as  peculiar  if  he  does  not  join  in  all  the 
follies  and  sins  of  modern  society.  He  is  damned  as 
a  worldling  if  he  does.  Paul  met  the  counter  criti- 
cism also.  Some  thought  that  he  was  too  sober- 
minded.2  He  was  too  crafty  and  worldly-wise ;  "  be- 
ing crafty  I  caught  you  with  guile,"  ^  they  charged. 
He  had  sent  Titus  after  their  money  for  the  poor 
saints,  that  is,  Paul.  If  a  minister  saves  a  little 
money  for  his  family,  he  is  sure  to  be  called  merce- 
nary by  some.  Probably  different  enemies  brought 
the  different  accusations.  But  they  do  not  really  be- 
lieve what  they  say.  They  talk  with  the  face,  not 
with  the  heart.^  It  is  often  the  case  that  men  ridicule 
preachers  just   because  they  are  public  characters, 

'  I  Cor,  xiv.  14-18.  '2  Cor.  v.  13. 

3  2  Cor.  xii.  16.  *  2  Cor.  v.  12. 


192  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO  HIM 

just  to  see  if  they  can  be  provoked  into  doing  or  say- 
ing foolish  things  or  just  to  provoke  their  friends  to 
anger.  The  prophet  is  often  held  to  be  beside  him- 
self. They  will  burn  Savonarola  in  Florence  and 
coming  generations  will  build  his  monument.  In 
Oxford  the  monument  stands  to  Cranmer,  Ridley 
and  Latimer.  The  ashes  of  Wychff  may  have  gone 
to  the  sea  in  the  waters  of  the  Severn,  but  the  Eng- 
lish people  have  the  Bible  in  their  vernacular.  Paul 
challenges  the  Corinthians  to  take  either  horn  of  the 
dilemma.  If  he  was  prudent,  it  was  for  their  sakes ; 
if  he  was  beside  himself,  it  was  for  God.'  Paul  has 
"  a  continuous  sense  of  the  infinite."  ^  It  is  easy  for 
a  preacher  to  be  full  of  himself  or  of  the  current 
ideas.  The  sermon  will  be  "  after  all  only  a  lecture 
or  a  leading  article." ^  "I  went  longing  to  hear 
about  Christ,  and  it  was  only  Newman  from  begin- 
ning to  end."  ^  If  the  preacher  allows  the  critical 
faculty  to  crucify  spiritual  passion,  all  the  finesse  of 
overrefinement  and  exactitude  will  not  atone  for  the 
absence  of  soul  and  passion.  "  It  is  the  flash  of  the 
spirit  and  not  the  words  of  the  lips  which  is  the  best 
thing  which  a  great  man  has  to  give.  Catch  that 
and  you  have  an  imperishable  possession.  To  feel 
upon  one's  life  the  hot  breath  of  a  great  heart,  to 

^  F.  W.  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  p.  692. 

'  Beecher,  "  Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching,"  Third  Series,  p.  321. 

8  Moule,  "  To  My  Younger  Brethren,*'  p.  259.  •«  Ibid. 


THE  PREACHER'S  MASTER  PASSION       193 

drink  into  one's  being  the  life  of  a  great  soul  in  one 
of  its  great  moments,  is  a  privilege  which  does  not 
come  often  and  which  should  be  valued  above  rubies 
and  fine  gold."  '  Spirit  is  fused  with  spirit  in  the 
holy  passion  of  that  fire. 

5.  The  Grip  of  Chris  fs  Love 
"  For  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us."  ^  They 
may  think  him  crafty  or  crazy.  It  is  a  small  matter 
to  Paul.  He  has  caught  a  vision  of  Christ's  love  for 
him  as  shown  by  His  death  for  us  all.^  There  is  no 
denying  the  central  place  in  his  theology  which  Paul 
here  gives  to  the  death  of  Christ.  He  died  for  our 
sakes  and  rose  again  ^  to  prove  His  power  to  save 
from  sin.  We  who  have  been  saved  by  Christ  no 
longer  belong  to  ourselves.  We  are  to  Hve  unto 
Christ,  That  in  brief  is  Paul's  conception  of  his  own 
relation  to  Jesus.  He  is  the  bond-slave  of  Christ 
purchased  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  The  love  of  that 
Christ  as  thus  shown  holds  Paul  captive  to  the  end. 
The  word  "constrain"^  is  a  bold  one.  It  is  used 
of  those  in  the  grip^  of  various  diseases.  Peter's 
mother-in-law  was  held^  in  the  power  of  a  fever. 
The  Gadarenes  were  seized^  with  great  fear  when 


» Jefferson, '« The  Building  of  the  Church,"  p.  292. 
'  2  Cor.  V.  14,  3  2  Cor.  v.  14.  <  2  Cor.  v.  15. 

6  Literally  holds  together.  e  Matt.  iv.  24. 

'  Luke  iv.  38.  s  Luke  viii.  37. 


194  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO  HIM 

they  saw  what  Christ  had  done  to  the  demoniac. 
The  multitudes  press  *  Jesus  together  almost  to  suffo- 
cation. Jesus  felt  the  pressure  ^  in  His  spirit  till  His 
baptism  of  blood  be  received.  When  Stephen  told 
of  seeing  Jesus  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God, 
the  Sanhedrin  held^  their  hands  over  their  ears. 
When  Timothy  and  Silas  came  to  Corinth  from 
Thessalonica  Paul  held  himself  ^  continuously  to  the 
word  of  preaching.  Paul  later  felt  himself  in  a  strait^ 
betwixt  two  whether  to  stay  or  depart  and  be  with 
Christ.  These  are  the  chief  New  Testament  ex- 
amples of  this  word.  The  love  of  Christ  holds  Paul 
fast.  "  O  love  that  will  not  let  me  go."  In  a  sense, 
Paul  has  no  choice,  since,  as  in  a  vice,  he  is  held  fast 
by  the  love  of  Christ.^  It  is  more  than  the  categor- 
ical imperative  of  4uty.  It  is  the  magnet  of  love 
that  is  irresistible,  once  you  have  yielded  yourself  to 
its  power.  The  mother  is  the  slave  of  her  sick  child.' 
She  cannot  help  herself  if  she  have  a  mother's  heart. 
But  this  high  pressure  together^  creates  a  mighty 
propulsion  and  energy.  The  constraint  is  not  re- 
straint. It  is  impulse.^  The  boiler  that  holds  the 
steam  makes  possible  the  onward  pressure  that  drives 
the  engine  and  pulls  the  train.     The  love  of  Christ 

'  Luke  viii.  45.  •  Luke  xii.  50.  ^  Acts  vii.  57. 

*  Acts  xviii,  5.  6  Phil.  i.  23,  6  Denney,  in  loco. 
'  F.  W.  Robertson,  «« Life  and  Letters,"  p.  644. 

*  Sun.  9 ««  l^ygei  nos^'  Vulgate. 


THE   PREACHER'S   MASTER  PASSION       195 

presses  me  hard,  harasses  ^  me  so  that  I  have  no  rest 
save  in  pushing  on  for  Christ.  Christ's  love  lets  me 
have  no  peace.^  In  this  word,  then,  Paul  has  re- 
vealed the  master-passion  of  his  ministry.  He  has 
no  desire  to  get  beyond  Christ.  Jesus  is  ever  with 
him  and  ever  lures  him  on  to  higher  heights.  With 
unwearied  tread  Paul  presses  on  towards  the  goal. 
In  his  darkest  hours  he  hears  the  footfall  of  Christ  at 
his  side :  "  Be  not  afraid,  but  speak  and  hold  not  thy 
peace  :  for  I  am  with  thee,  and  no  man  shall  set  on 
thee  to  harm  thee."  ^  To  Paul  Christ  was  all  and  in 
all.'*  He  does  not  look  on  Christ  as  he  once  did,  as 
the  Jews  do  now,  "  after  the  flesh."  ^  He  has  gone 
far  beyond  that  stage,  he  is  glad  to  say.  The  new 
view  of  Christ  has  made  a  new  world  for  Paul.  He 
looks  at  everything  from  a  new  angle  of  vision.  He 
has  a  new  motive  in  life,  a  new  passion,  a  new  out- 
look. The  gold  is  not  at  the  end  of  the  rainbow  for 
him.  He  has  found  the  secret  of  real  life.  It  is 
Christ. 

6.     The  New  View  of  Man 
"  Wherefore  we  henceforth  know  no  man  after  the 
flesh." ^     The  reason  is  that  Paul  himself  is  anew 
man  ^  in  Christ  Jesus.     "  The  old  things  are  passed 

1  Ewald.  t  Chrysostom. 

3  Acts  xviii.  9f.     Cf.  Acts  xxiii.  11.  4  Col.  iii.  11. 

6  2  Cor.  V.  16.  6  2  Cor.  v.  16.  '  2  Cor.  v.  17. 


196  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO  HIM 

away ;  behold,  they  are  become  new."  *  The  ancient 
order  of  prejudice  and  hate  has  gone.  In  its  place 
has  come  the  new  love  for  man  of  whatever  race.  In 
Christ  Jesus  there  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  circum- 
cision nor  uncircumcision,  Barbarian  nor  Scythian, 
bond  nor  free.^  The  middle  wall  of  partition  between 
Jew  and  Gentile  was  broken  down,  but  it  was  done 
only  by  the  Cross  of  Christ.^  Paul  feels  himself 
debtor  both  to  Greek  and  Barbarian.*  It  is  the 
crowning  glory  of  Paul's  ministry  that  to  him  was 
given  the  grace  of  telling  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ  to  the  Gentiles.^  The  point  to  get  hold  of  is 
that  this  was  a  complete  revolution  in  the  ancient 
world.  Jews  and  Samaritans  hated  each  other. 
Greeks  despised  the  barbarous  outsiders.  The  proud 
Romans  scorned  those  whom  they  conquered. 
There  was  an  impassable  social  gulf  between  master 
and  slave.  The  love  of  man  as  man,  the  notion  that 
"  a  man's  a  man  for  a'  that,"  was  foreign  to  the  an- 
cient world.  Christ  discovered  the  worth  of  the  in- 
dividual man  and  formed  the  first  real  democracy, 
that  of  the  spirit.  Paul  made  this  discovery  in 
Christ.  "  Democracy  was  born  at  Bethlehem — not, 
as  Carlyle  declared,  at  Bunker's  Hill.  And  the  spir- 
itual movement  towards  democracy  is  very  far  indeed 


1  2  Cor.  V.  17.  «  Col.  iii.  II.  »  Eph.  ii.  14  f. 

*  Rom.  i.  14.  »  Eph.  iii.  8. 


THE  PREACHER'S  MASTER  PASSION       197 

from  complete."  1      Perpetua  and  Felicitos,  though 
matron  and  slave,  clasp  hands  as  Christian  martyrs. 
Christianity  alone  can  break  down  the  caste  system 
of  India.     Even  the  Christian  world  is  very  far  from 
having  grasped  clearly  the  significance  of  what  Jesus 
has  done  for  man.     But  Paul  saw  it.     He  was  a  new 
man  himself.     Paul  has  new  eyes  with  which  to  look 
upon  the  world,  the  eyes  of  Jesus  which  had  looked 
in  pity  upon  him.     He  has  a  new  heart  of  love  for 
men.     Jesus  has  made  a  new  world  for  Paul.     The    y 
passion  for  souls  that  spurs  the  missionary  to  heroic 
endeavour  to  uplift  the  race  is  grounded  in  the  love 
of  Christ.     The  worth  of  man  is  recognized  in  its 
fullness  only  in  the  light  of  the  Cross.     The  world  is 
in  a  state  of  flux.     There  are  always  modern  prob- 
lems for  the  modern  man,  but  this  does  not  mean 
that  Christians  must  drop  the  gospel  view  of  man. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  what  modern  Christianity  most 
needs  to  do  is  to  come  up  to  Christ's  view  of  man 
and  apply  it  to  the  actual  social  problems  of  to-day 
in  harmony  with  the  love  of  Christ,  but  not  with  the 
bald  literalism  of  Tolstoi.^     Evolution  has   thrown 
new  light  on  our  knowledge  of  man  and  the  world- 
order,  but  evolution  has  not  wrought  such  a  revolu- 

1 W.  Robertson  Nicoll,  Bri^is^  Weekly,  Jan.  19,  19 il- 
»  Cf.  Matthews,  "  The  Church  and  the  Changing  Order    ;  "  Ihe 
Gospel  and  the  Modern  Man." 


198  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO   HIM 

tion  in  man's  view  of  man  as  has  Christianity.*  As 
to  the  revolution  in  Paul's  own  mind  it  is  just  the 
contrast  between  Saul  the  Pharisee  and  Paul  the 
Apostle  to  the  Gentiles.^  He  does  not  mean  ^  that, 
as  a  Christian,  he  once  shared  the  narrow  prejudices 
of  the  Jews  which  he  has  since  outgrown.  He  grew 
constantly  in  his  apprehension  of  Christ's  love  and  so 
in  appreciation  of  man,  but  it  was  all  along  the  new 
turn  made  in  his  Hfe  by  Jesus.  The  old  Jewish 
rabbinical  views  of  the  Messiah  and  of  Jewish  exclu- 
siveness  vanished.  A  new  order  has  come.^  The 
death  of  Christ  marked  a  new  epoch  in  the  history 
iof  the  human  race.  "  Had  he  foreseen  distinctly  that 
a  new  era  would  be  dated  from  that  time ;  that  a  new 
society,  philosophy,  literature,  moral  code,  would 
grow  up  from  it  over  continents  of  which  he  knew 
not  the  existence ;  he  could  not  have  more  strongly 
expressed  his  sense  of  the  greatness  of  the  event  than 
in  what  is  here  said."  ^  He  had  himself  never  ap- 
parently seen  Jesus  in  the  flesh,  but  he  knows  Him  in 
the  spirit  and  he  understands  the  moral  and  spiritual 
revolution  wrought  by  Jesus.  It  is  the  greatest  of 
all  time,  this  new  love  for  man  as  the  offspring  of 
God,  this  new  sense  of  the  brotherhood  of  the  race 

» Cf.  Orr,  «  The  Christian  View  of  God  and  the  World  as  Center- 
ing in  the  Incarnation." 

2  Bernard,  in  loco.  8  B.  Jowett,  in  loco. 

*  Cf.  Isa.  xliii.  18  f.;  Heb.  viii.  13.  » Stanley,  in  loco. 


THE  PREACHER'S  MASTER  PASSION       199 

that  calls  for  the  best  that  is  in  a  man  to  be  given 
freely  as  an  offering  for  men.'     The  touch-stone  that 
makes  this  "  new  world "^  is  Christ.     "  In  Christ  "^^ 
all  men  meet  on  a  common  level  and  are  made  new ; 
creatures.     I  have  just  seen  the  lantern  slides  of  life 
in  Burmah  and  India  given  by  Dr.  Vinton,  missionary 
in  Burmah.     The  most  striking  thing  is  the  expres- 
sion on  the  faces  of  children  and  grown  men  and 
women  after  they  become  Christians.     Positively  it 
looks  like  a  miracle,  so  great  is  the  transformation  in 
the  eye  and  the  whole  countenance.^     Indeed,  it  is 
the  constant  miracle  of  God's  grace.     There  is  inex- 
pressible power  and  appeal  in  Jesus  Christ  to  find  the 
good  that  is  left  in  man  after  the  ruin  of  sin  and  Hnk 
on  to  that  and  transform  the  heart  and  life  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.     The  old  prophets  dimly  saw  the  glory 
in  the  Messiah  of  whom  they  spoke.^     A  painter 
stood  before  a  masterpiece  of  a  genius  and  felt  the 
uplift  of  spirit  as  he  humbly  said :  "  And  I  too  am  a 
painter."     The  power  of  Christ  is  as  great  to-day  as 
when  He  looked  upon  Simon  and  threw  the  spell  of 
His  spirit  upon  him.«     Instead  of  being  crushed  by 
the  sense  of  our  unworthiness  as  we  look  at  Jesus  we 
are  lifted  up  with  the  ineffable  hope  that  this  is  what 

iPhilii.  17.  2  Denney,  z« /^r^.  ^  En  Christo. 

4  Cf.  also  Begbie's  "  Twice-Born  Men."  The   British  edition  of 
this  book  is  called  "  Broken  Earthenware."  . 

M  Peter  i.  II.  «  John  1.42. 


200  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO   HIM 

we  ought  to  be  like,  what  we  will  try  to  be  like.* 
We  can  never  get  away  from  Christ.  Intellectual 
unrest  will  give  place  to  spiritual  aspiration.^ 

7.  The  Ministry  of  Reconciliation 
"  And  gave  unto  us  the  ministry  of  reconciliation 
.  .  .  having  committed  unto  us  the  word  of  recon- 
ciliation." ^  This  is  a  great  word  that  Paul  uses  here. 
Nothing  that  can  ever  be  said  of  the  ministry  lifts  it 
to  a  higher  plane  than  the  service  of  reconciliation. 
But  we  are  not  to  mistake  our  calling.  Ministers  are 
not  priests  in  the  sense  that  we  have  to  propitiate 
God.  It  is  true  that  there  was  estrangement  on 
God's  part  towards  sin.  God  is  represented  as 
angry  with  sin.  He  punishes  sin.  God  is  bound 
to  punish  willful  sin  against  Himself.^  "  There  is 
something  in  God  as  well  as  something  in  man 
that  has  to  be  dealt  with  before  there  can  be 
peace.  Nay,  the  something  on  God's  side  is  so  in- 
comparably more  serious  in  comparison  with  it  that 
the  something  on  man's  side  simply  passes  out  of 
view.     It  is  God's  earnest  dealing  with  the  obstacle 


1  F.  W.  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  p.  652. 

»  Cf.  Selbie,  "  Aspects  of  Christ,"  p.  270.  See  also  <*  Religion  and 
the  Modern  Mind,"  and  "  Religion  and  the  Modern  World." 

3  2  Cor.  V.  18  f. 

*  F.  W.  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  p.  656.  "  It  was  Christ's 
work  to  reconcile  God  to  man.  That  is  done,  and  done  forever; 
we  cannot  add  anything  to  it.  That  is  a  priestly  power ;  and  it  is 
at  our  peril  that  we  claim  such  a  power." 


THE  PREACHER'S  MASTER  PASSION      20I 

on  His  own  side  to  peace  with  man  which  prevails 
on  man  to  believe  in  the  seriousness  of  His  love,  and 
to  lay  aside  distrust."  '     But  God  has  met  His  prob- 
lem in  a  way  satisfactory  to  Himself.     He  has  found 
a  way  by  which  to  remain  just  and  to  justify  the 
sinner.2     -phe   whole   wonderful   adjustment  ^   is   of 
God's  love.^    -All  things  are  of  God." ^    We  may 
leave  with  God,  as  Paul  does,  God's  side  of  the  matter, 
except  to  accent  the  fact  that  in  Christ  we  see  God 
reconciling  the  world  to  Himself.^    This  is  the  sub- 
lime spectacle  in  the  life  and  death  of  Christ.     The 
Cross  is  God's  overture  to  man  for  pardon  and  peace,^ 
"  not  reckoning  unto  them  their  trespasses."  «     We 
have  the  picture  of  God  endeavouring  ^  to  reconcile 
the  world  to  Himself  through  Christ.     The  love  of  \ 
God  prompts  the  whole  effort.     Christ  is  the  Medi-[  '^' 
ator  between  God  and  man.^«     It  is  precisely  at  this 
point  that  the  minister  of  Christ  comes  in.     He  must 
speak  the  word  of  reconciliation  to  those  who  other- 
wise will  not  know  of   God's  love  and  pardon  in 
Christ  or  who,  if  they  know,  will  not  heed.     It  is  a 
work   worthy   of  angels,  yea,  of  the  Son  of  God 
Himself  who  Himself  was  the  greatest  Preacher  of 
the  Gospel.     Jesus  best  interpreted  to  men  His  own 

1  Denney,  in  loco.  «  Rom.  iii.  26.  '  ^T^^T\9. 

6  Cf.  Meyer  and  Bachmann.  .  ,  10%^*  ^  c 

8  2  Cor.  V.  19.  ^  Conalive  participle.  *«  i  Tim.  11.  5. 


202  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO  HIM 

mission  and  work.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  promised  as 
the  teacher  of  those  who  are  to  set  forth  the  work 
of  Christ  to  men.  *•  He  shall  glorify  Me :  for  He 
shall  take  of  Mine,  and  shall  declare  it  unto  you."  * 
No  minister  can  present  Christ  as  the  World's  Recon- 
ciler to  God  without  the  help  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
whom  God  is  anxious  to  bestow.^  The  minister  is 
the  interpreter  of  Christ  to  men  in  order  to  win  men 
back  to  God,  to  make  peace  in  their  hearts  with  God. 
There  is  no  earthly  task  so  delicate  and  fraught  with 
such  results  in  time  and  eternity.  The  sermon  is  noth- 
ing in  itself  if  it  does  not  contribute  towards  this  end. 
The  pastoral  visits,  the  gifts,  the  machinery  of  church 
life  go  for  naught  if  they  do  not  help  on  the  work  of 
winning  men  back  to  God.  This  is  the  work  of  God 
in  Christ  in  the  world.  All  else  is  subsidiary  to  this. 
We  are  God's  coworkers  in  this  great  enterprise.^  "  A 
sermon  is  the  life-blood  of  a  Christian  spirit.  A 
preacher  dies  in  the  act  of  preaching.  He  lays  down 
his  life  for  his  brethren.  He  saves  others,  himself  he 
cannot  save.  The  pulpit  is  a  Golgotha  in  which  the 
preacher  gives  his  life  for  the  life  of  the  world."  * 
The  message  of  the  preacher  is  that  of  his  Master : 
"  Be  ye  reconciled  to  God."  ^  Paul  is  a  preacher  of 
God's  peace  and  an  exhorter  of  peace  to  men. 

»  John  xvi.  »  Luke  xi.  13.  3  ,  Cor.  iii.  9. 

*  Jefferson, «  The  Building  of  the  Church,"  p.  287.     «  2  Cor.  v.  20. 


THE  preacher's  MASTER  PASSION      203 

8.  Ambassadors  for  Christ 
"  We  are  ambassadors  therefore  on  behalf  of  Christ, 
as  though  God  were  entreating  by  us."  *  The  word 
for  being  an  ambassador  is  one  of  great  dignity .^  It 
is  common  among  the  ancient  writers.  In  Luke  xiv. 
32  Jesus  tells  of  one  king  who,  **  while  the  other  is 
yet  a  great  way  off,  sendeth  an  embassage,  and 
asketh  conditions  of  peace."  ^  Paul  is  fully  con- 
scious of  the  great  commission  which  he  bears 
from  God  on  behalf  of  Christ.  In  a  word  Paul,  as 
all  ministers  are,  is  God's  spokesman  to  men.  He 
comes  with  authoritative  word  as  the  ambassador 
from  the  Court  of  Heaven  to  plead  the  cause  of 
Christ  with  men  whom  God  so  loved  that  He  gave 
His  Son  to  die  for  them.  He  has  a  word  for  the 
rebellious  Corinthians  :  "  We  beseech  you  on  behalf 
of  Christ."  ^  It  is  surely  a  remarkable  proof  of  God's 
love  that  He  sends  forth  ambassadors  to  beg  ^  men  to 
receive  His  pardon  in  Christ  for  their  sins.  The 
utter  sinfulness  of  human  nature  is  revealed  in  the 
perversity  that  makes  this  necessary.  An  earnest 
ministry  is  one  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  reality 
of  sin.  Paul  feels  his  own  need  of  prayer  with  such 
a  task  committed  to  him.  He  asks  that  prayer  be 
made  for  him  "  that  utterance  may  be  given  unto  me 

>  2  Cor.  V.  20.  »  Meyer.  3  Cf.  also  Luke  xix.  14. 

4  a  Cor.  V.  20.  6  Deometha. 


204  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO   HLM 

in  opening  my  mouth,  to  make  known  with  boldness 
the  mystery  of  the  Gospel,  for  which  I  am  an  ambas- 
sador in  chains ;  that  I  may  speak  boldly,  as  I  ought 
to  speak."  *  He  is  still  Christ's  ambassador  though 
wearing  a  chain.^  No  ambassador  in  Rome  wore  a 
ring  with  more  pride  than  Paul  came  to  feel  towards 
that  chain.  The  value  of  the  individual  preacher 
is  "  truth  plus  personality."  ^  It  is  no  wonder  that 
Paul  felt  acutely  the  peril  in  his  ow-n  personality. 
The  effectiveness  of  the  gospel  message  inevitably 
varies  with  the  changing  personality  of  the  preacher. 
"  A  man's  personality  is  not  a  fixed  and  unchanging 
element.  At  any  moment  it  is  the  resultant  of  what 
he  has  received  and  done."  ^  Dr.  Hoyt  considers 
Phillips  Brooks  "  the  richest  personality  in  the  history 
of  the  modern  pulpit,  the  strongest  teacher  of  the 
fact  that  preaching  is  truth  through  personality." 
But  the  same  point  is  borne  out  by  a  study  of  other 
great  preachers.^  The  best  of  ministers  have  their 
"  Fainting  Fits  "  as  Spurgeon  called  them.  "  Poor 
human  nature  cannot  bear  such  strains  as  heavenly 
triumphs  bring  to  it;  there  must  come  a  reaction. 
Excess   of  joy  as  excitement  must  be  paid  for  by 

1  Eph.  vi.  19  f.  Literally  "  in  a  chain." 

«  Phillips  Brooks.  *  Hoyt,  "The  Preacher,"  p.  27. 

6  Cf.  Broadus,  "  History  of  Preaching  "  ;  Ker,  "  History  of 
Preaching  "  ;  Dargan,  "  History  of  Preaching  "  ;  Brastow,  "  Repre- 
sentative Modern  Preachers " ;  Wilkinson,  "  Modern  Masters  of 
Pulpit  Discourse." 


THE  PREACHER'S  MASTER  PASSION      205 

subsequent  depressions.  .  ,  .  Whirled  off  our 
feet  by  a  revival,  carried  aloft  by  popularity,  exalted 
by  success  in  soul- winning,  we  should  be  as  the  chaff 
which  the  wind  driveth  away,  were  it  not  that  the 
gracious  discipline  of  mercy  breaks  the  ships  of  our 
vainglory  with  a  strong  east  wind,  and  casts  us  ship- 
wrecked, naked  and  forlorn,  upon  the  Rock  of 
Ages."  '  In  this  respect,  as  in  much  else,  Paul  is  a 
model  for  the  modern  minister.^  The  courage  in 
Paul  is  not  due  to  a  conviction  of  his  own  superior 
qualifications  for  his  task,  but  rather  to  the  fullness 
of  the  work  of  Christ.  He  has  a  full  salvation  to 
offer  to  men.  "  Him  who  knew  no  sin  He  made  to 
be  sin  on  our  behalf."  ^  This  is  the  heart  of  the 
atoning  death  and  work  of  Christ.  Paul's  clear  grip 
on  this  great  truth  gives  him  solidity  and  positiveness. 
God's  purpose  is  that  we  ourselves  may  become  in 
Christ  the  righteousness  of  God.  Thus  there  shall 
come  to  pass  real  righteousness  in  our  Hves.  A  re- 
deemed humanity  will  become  a  sanctified  humanity 
in  Christ.  Paul  never  gets  out  of  sight  of  Christ. 
He  is  Christ's  Ambassador.  He  must  make  his  re- 
port to  Christ.  He  is  to  appear  at  the  judgment- 
seat  of  Christ.  He  longs  to  be  well  pleasing  to 
Christ.     Meanwhile   the  love   of  Christ  holds  him 

1  Spurgeon,  "  Lectures  to  Students,"  First  Series,  p.  257  f. 

2  Cf.  Wilkinson,  "  Modern  Masters  of  Pulpit  Discourse,"  p.  523. 
'  2  Cor.  V.  21. 


206  WELL  PLEASING  UNTO   HIM 

steadily  to  his  ministry  of  reconciliation  to  bring 
on  the  new  order  in  the  world,  the  order  of  peace 
towards  God,  of  love,  of  the  reign  of  God  in  the 
hearts  of  men.  Moreover,  the  world  loves  the 
preacher  who  takes  his  calling  seriously,  who  is  in 
deadly  earnest.  This  does  not  mean  that  the 
preacher  must  be  out  of  touch  with  men.  The  tre- 
mendous sense  of  his  high  calling  rests  largely  on 
the  worth  of  men.  They  are  worth  saving.  They 
were  worth  Christ's  dying  for  them.  They  are  worth 
our  living  for  them. 


VIII 

IN  GLORY  AND  DISHONOUR— TAKING 
LIFE  AS  IT  IS 

{2  Cor.  vi.  i-io) 

"  By  glory  and  dishonour,  by  evil  re- 
port and  good  report." 

— 2  Cor.  vi.  8. 


VIII 

IN  GLORY  AND  DISHONOUR— TAKING 
LIFE  AS  IT  IS 

I.     Working  Together  With  Him 

AND  working  together  with  Him."  *     Paul 
is    a    coworker   with   God,  "  for   we   are 
God's     fellow    workers."  2      God    is    the 
worker  and  Paul  is  the  coworker.     That  is  his  glory 
and  the  secret  of  success  in  the  ministry.     The  stars 
in  their  courses  fight  for  the  man  who  is  partner  with 
God  in  the  world's  redemption.     Modern  science  has 
taught  us  the  wisdom  of  following  the  ways  of  nature. 
They  are  God's  ways.     But  God  has  not  revealed  all 
of  Himself  in  nature.      His  heart  is  manifested  in 
Christ  Jesus.     Just  as  the  scientist  laboriously  delves 
into  the  secrets  of  nature  to  learn  her  processes  and 
plans,  so  the  minister  of  God  must  learn  the  plan  of 
God  in  Christ  as  unfolded  in  His  Word  and  in  His 
dealings  with  men.     He  must  know  the  ways  of  the 
soul  and  of  God's  spirit.     In  the  work  of  rescuing 
men  we  can  only  follow  the  lead  of  God  in  Christ. 
God  is  a  patient  workman.^     "  And  it  takes  Him  all 

1  2  Cor.  vi.  I.  *  I  Cor.  iii.  9- 

3  Maclaren,  "  Expositions,"  in  loco. 
200 


2IO  IN  GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

His  energies,  for  all  a  lifetime,  to  prepare  His  child 
for  what  He  wants  to  make  of  him." '  Paul  is  an 
ambassador,  but  he  is  also  a  builder,  a  teacher,  a 
worker  in  the  Lord's  field.  The  preacher  is  first  an 
evangelist,  then  a  teacher.^  But  the  minister's  work 
is  only  begun  when  he  has  led  a  soul  to  Christ.  If 
the  first  thought  here  seems  to  be  the  power  of  God 
with  whom  the  minister  works,  one  must  not  over- 
look the  other  side.  Paul  is  really  speaking  of  him- 
self as  working  in  connection  with  God.  It  is  God 
who  gives  cheer  and  success,  but  the  minister  must 
work  all  the  more  because  God  is  his  Partner  in  the 
work  of  the  kingdom.  There  is  no  blessing  prom- 
ised to  the  lazy  or  careless  or  self-satisfied  preacher. 
"  The  higher  classes  no  less  resolutely  than  the  lower 
withhold  their  spirit  of  obeisance  from  any  man  who 
is  too  good  for  it,  too  refined,  too  scholarly,  too  gen- 
tlemanly, or  too  indolent  and  too  weak.  The 
preacher,  therefore,  who  has  no  power  with  the  com- 
mon people,  has,  in  fact,  no  power  with  anybody. 
The  pulpit  which  has  no  standing  ground  down  in 
the  lowlands  of  society  has  none  anywhere.  An  ex- 
clusive ministry  is  always  a  weak  ministry."  ^  Paul 
is  himself  a  noble  example  of  how  a  man  of  the  finest 
sensibilities  and  culture  can  adapt  his  ministry  to  all 

*  Maclaren,  '«  Expositions,"  in  loco. 

*  Denney,  in  loco.  3  Phelps,  "  Men  and  Books,"  p.  69. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS  IT  IS  211 

classes.  He  is  able  to  be  intellectually  alert  and 
alive  to  all  the  pressing  doctrinal  issues  of  a  vital 
Christianity  in  its  grapple  vi^ith  the  theological 
vagaries  and  philosophy  of  the  time.*  But  Paul 
knows  how  to  be  a  man  of  affairs  in  the  work  of 
leadership  ^  in  the  churches  without  any  diminution 
of  spiritual  power.  He  is  practical  to  the  last  degree 
in  all  the  details  of  the  collection  for  the  poor  saints 
at  Jerusalem.^  He  shows  consummate  generalship 
in  the  conference  at  Jerusalem  when  he  wins  a  de- 
cisive victory  over  the  Judaizers.^  There  is  no  taint 
of  obscurantism  in  Paul  and  he  compromises  no 
truth  in  his  championship  of  freedom.  He  is  anxious 
that  Timothy  may  be  "  a  workman  that  needeth  not 
to  be  ashamed,  handling  aright  the  word  of  truth."  ^ 
Thus  he  will  be  approved  unto  God.  It  is  entirely 
possible  for  a  man  to  dull  his  spiritual  sensibilities  in 
the  mere  details  of  church  finance  and  church  busi- 
ness and  thus  lose  the  richer  results  of  his  life-work. 
"  The  quiet  country  minister  who  trained  an  Alex- 
ander Duff  into  the  faith  and  purpose  of  a  missionary 
may  have  done  more  for  the  kingdom  of  God  than 
many  a  man  who  has  had  thousands  hanging  on  his 


*  Cf.  his  conflict  with  the  Judaizers  in  2  Corinthians  and  Galatians 
and  with  incipient  Gnosticism  in  Colossians  and  Ephesians. 

2Cf.  Mott,  "The  Future  Leadership  of  the  Church." 

*  Cf.  2  Cor.  viii.  and  ix.  <  Acts  xv. ;  Gal.  ii. 
5  2  Tim.  ii.  15. 


212  IN  GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

word.  We  need  a  spiritual  vision  of  work  as  well  as 
of  the  truth."  ^  There  is  cheer  in  this  contemplation 
for  many  a  devoted  minister  whose  name  is  not 
prominent  in  the  press.  But  he  may  outrank  some 
of  the  popular  idols  when  the  rewards  are  distributed. 
The  measure  of  a  minister's  work  is  not  the  noise 
made  by  the  rattle  of  the  machinery.  The  noise 
often  shows  that  the  machinery  is  out  of  order  and 
needs  oiling.  "  The  Church's  worship,  which  should 
gather  and  greaten  its  soul,  is  sacrificed  to  its  work. 
You  have  bustle  all  the  week  and  baldness  on  Sun- 
day. You  have  energy  everywhere  except  in  the 
spirit."^  Paul  was  serene  in  the  conviction  of  the 
present  power  of  the  Risen  Christ.^  There  is  no 
offhand  patent  guarantee  for  a  successful  ministry  as 
men  count  success.  What  seems  to  us  a  highly  suc- 
cessful work  may  be  quite  otherwise  in  God's  eye. 
Joseph  Parker  discourses  brilliantly  on  "  The  Guar- 
antees of  a  Successful  Ministry."  ^  He  has  a  sane 
word  in  this  :  "  Our  work  in  the  ministry  will  be  a 
failure  unless  we  seek  to  discharge  our  obligations  in 
the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ."  If  that  sounds  like  a 
pious  platitude,  we  have  only  to  call  our  own  lives 
to  the  witness  stand  to  refute  it.     Certainly  the  min- 

»  Hoyt,  "  The  Preacher,"  p.  26. 

'  Forsyth,  "  Positive  Preaching  and  the  Modern  Mind,"  p.  171. 

8  Lock,  "  St.  Paul  the  Master-Builder,"  p.  69  f. 

4"  Ad  Clerum,"  pp.  225-235. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS   IT   IS  213 

istry  is  the  last  place  in  the  world  for  a  man  who  has 
been  a  failure  elsewhere.  There  is  no  magic  spell 
about  the  ministry  to  bring  success  to  men  who  will 
not  work  with  all  their  souls.  "Fear  God  and 
work  "  Ms  a  good  motto  for  one  who  is  a  coworker 
with  God  in  the  highest  of  earth's  callings. 

2.     Appeal 
"  We  entreat  also  that  ye  receive  not  the  grace  of 
God  in  vain."  ^     He  is  God's  ambassador  and  it  is 
really  God's  entreaty.     *'  The  entreaties  of  God  "  is 
Maclaren's  expressive  phrase.^     If  God  can  beseech 
man,  surely  God's   ambassador   should   not   be  too 
haughty  to  plead  with   men.     The   word^   here  is 
difficult  to  translate.     It  has  the  triple  meaning  of 
entreaty,   exhortation,   and   consolation.     It    is  the 
chief  function  of  the  ambassador  for  Christ.^     It  is 
"as  though  God  were  entreating  by  us."  ^     Pan!  has 
given  his  whole  heart  to  the  Corinthians.     He  has 
given  them  the  real  Gospel  of  Jesus.     He  is  afraid 
that  they  will  be  tempted  away  from  the  simplicity 
and  purity  that  is  towards  Christ.^     But  he  cannot 
stand  idly  by  and  see  the  work  in  Corinth  come  to 
naught.     They  have  received  the  grace  of  God.     He 
begs  that  they  do  not  render  the  very  grace  of  God 

1  Broadus,  «  Sermons  and  Addresses,"  p.  347.  '  2  Cor.  vi.  I. 

8  '«  Expositions  of  Holy  Scripture,"  in  loco.         *  Parakaloumen. 
B  Stanley,  in  loco.  ^  2  Cor.  v.  20.  ■>  2  Cor.  xi.  3. 


214  IN  GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

of  no  avail,  "  in  vain."  *  Paul  does  not  pause  to 
parley  over  the  abstract  question  whether  those  who 
have  the  grace  of  God  can  make  it  null  and  void. 
He  advises  the  Corinthians  not  to  experiment  with 
their  eternal  souls.  He  took  no  chances  with  him- 
self.2  He  is  in  deadly  earnest  because  the  time  is 
limited.  It  is  always  so  with  God's  work.  He  heark- 
ens and  helps  in  the  hour  of  opportunity,  the  accept- 
able ^  time.  As  it  was  in  Isaiah's  time  *  so  it  is  now 
in  the  crisis  in  Corinth.  As  it  was  in  Paul's  day  so 
is  it  to-day.  Crisis  is  the  word  forever  on  the  lips  of 
the  preacher  and  it  must  be  so.  "  For  there  can  be 
nothing  worse,  darker,  arguing  a  nature  more  averse 
or  indifferent  to  the  highest  good,  than  that  God 
should  plead,  and  I  should  steel  my  heart  and  deafen 
mine  ear  against  His  voice.  The  crown  of  a  man's 
sin,  because  it  is  the  disclosure  of  the  secrets  of  his 
deepest  heart  as  loving  darkness  rather  than  light,  is 
turning  away  from  the  divine  voice  that  woos  us  to 
love  and  to  God."  ^  The  "  clatter  of  the  streets  and 
the  whirr  of  the  spindles  "  drown  the  still  small  voice 
of  God.  The  sound  of  the  preacher's  voice  as  God's 
spokesman  becomes  monotonous,  displeasing,  com- 
monplace, even  repulsive.  Immersed  in  the  cares  of 
this  world  men  come  to  resent  as  an  impertinence 

^  To  emptiness.  '  i  Cor.  ix.  27.  ^C{.  2  Cor.  vi.  I. 

<  Isa.  xlix.  8.  5  Maclaren,  "  Expositions,"  in  loco. 


TAKING   LIFE  AS   IT  IS  21 S 

and  an  interference  the  effort  of  the  minister  of  Christ 
to  press   home  to  an  issue  the  claims  of  God  upon 
the  hfe.     "  The  true  return  for  ministerial  devoted- 
ness  is  a  life  given  to  God."  '     When  the  minister's 
appeal  bears  the  fruit  of  a  redeemed  life  he  has  ample 
reward  for  rebuff  and  discouragement.     But,  if  in  the 
end  it  is  only  failure,  he  may  at  least  have  the  satis- 
faction of  duty  done,  if  so  be  that  is  true.     The 
preacher   sows    beside   all  waters.     He   cannot   tell 
which  will  bear  fruit,  this  or  that.     "  He  must  first 
of  all  believe  in  human  nature.     He  must  have  faith 
in   the   capacity  of  the   average   man.     God  alone 
knows  the  soul  and  the  extent  of  its  undiscovered 
resources.     The   preacher  who  builds  his   hope  on 
brilliant  people  only  is  doomed  to  disappointment."  ^ 
The   force   of  the  minister's  character  gives   great 
weight  to  his  appeal  and  is  often  the  decisive  factor. 
A  feeble  appeal  from  a  feeble  man  is  useless.     "  In 
any  position,  a  vacillating  man  is  feeble  and  unsatis- 
factory.    But  a  vacillating   leader  is  a  positive  ca- 
lamity.    The  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  the  leader  of 
his   congregation,  and  for  him  to  vacillate,  in  any 
great  question,  is  practically  to  bring  the  army  to  a 
standstill,  almost  to  proclaim  the  reign  of  anarchy."^ 
At  any  rate  the  preacher  must  make  the  appeal  in 

1  F.  W.  Robertson,  "  Life  and  Letters,"  etc.,  p.  66l. 

2  Jefferson,  "Building  of  the  Church,"  p.  171. 

3  Blaikie,  "  The  Work  of  the  Ministry,"  p.  371. 


2l6  IN  GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

behalf  of  Christ  even  if  it  fall  upon  deaf  ears.  One 
of  the  saddest  phases  of  modern  life  is  the  large 
number  of  men  in  our  cities  who  never  go  to  church, 
who  do  not  allow  themselves  to  be  troubled  by  the 
message  of  Christianity.  There  is,  surely,  a  differ- 
ence between  Christianity  and  Churchianity.*  Real 
disciples  of  Jesus  are  to  be  found  outside  of  the 
churches.  But  it  is  still  true  that  the  churches  are 
the  main  agencies  for  pushing  the  work  of  the  king- 
dom of  God. 

3.  Giving  No  Occasion  of  Stumbling 
**  Giving  no  occasion  of  stumbling  in  anything, 
that  our  ministration  be  not  blamed."  ^  Paul  seems 
to  think  that  some  will  actually  be  glad  of  an  excuse 
not  to  listen  to  the  message  of  the  Gospel.  They 
will  be  glad  if  the  ministers  of  Christ  give  them  such 
an  excuse  by  glaring  inconsistencies  in  their  lives.^ 
It  is  true  that  Paul's  enemies  in  Corinth  did  not  wait 
for  an  occasion.  They  manufactured  numerous  un- 
founded charges  against  Paul.  They  actually  said 
that  he  knew  that  he  was  not  a  genuine  apostle  else 
he  would  have  received  pay  for  his  services.^  His 
very  independent  manhood  was  misunderstood  and 
turned  against  him.     But,  none  the  less,  Paul  will 


*  Cf.  Phelps,  "  Men  and  Books,"  p.  73.  «  2  Cor.  vi.  3. 

3  Denney,  in  loco.  <  2  Cor.  xi.  9  fF. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS  IT  IS  21 7 

not  change  his  conduct.  He  will  cut  off*  occasion 
from  those  who  are  eager  for  an  excuse  to  injure  him 
and  the  cause  of  Christ.  The  beast  is  not  far  be- 
neath the  surface.  Wolves  jump  on  and  devour  the 
one  in  the  pack  who  falls  in  the  fight.  It  is  true 
that  men  will  find  excuses  anyhow  for  not  accepting 
Christ  as  Saviour,  but  the  minister  must  see  to  it  that 
they  have  no  real  ground  of  complaint  in  his  life,  if 
it  be  possible  to  avoid  it.  No  minister  is  perfect 
and,  do  the  best  one  can,  there  will  be  occasion 
enough  for  stumbhng^  on  the  part  of  those  always 
ready  to  cavil.  Jesus  felt  very  keenly  the  tragedy 
of  men  throwing  stumbling-blocks  in  the  way  of 
those  groping  towards  Him  :  "  Woe  unto  the  world 
because  of  occasions  of  stumbling,  for  it  must  needs 
be  that  the  occasions  come;  but  woe  to  that  man 
through  whom  the  occasion  cometh."  ^  And  Mark  ^ 
has  it :  "  And  whosoever  shall  cause  one  of  these 
little  ones  that  believe  on  Me  to  stumble,  it  were  bet- 
ter for  him  if  a  great  millstone  were  hanged  about 
his  neck,  and  he  were  cast  into  the  sea."  This  peril 
is  one  common  to  all  Christians,  to  all  in  fact,  but  it 
applies  with  peculiar  force  to  ministers  of  the  Gos- 
pel. The  case  of  Judas  Iscariot  was  in  point.  Paul 
will    recall    a    sorrowful    list    of   those    who,   like 


1  2  Cor.  xi.  12.  2  Strike  against.  *  Matt,  xviii.  7. 

*  Mark  ix.  42. 


2l8  IN  GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

Hymeneus  and  Alexander,  have  made  shipwreck 
concerning  the  faith.*  It  is  a  sad  business  to  dwell 
upon  the  careers  of  those  who  once  stood  forth  as 
beacon  hghts  of  truth,  whose  hght  went  out  in  dark- 
ness and  even  in  disgrace.  It  cannot  be  justly  ob- 
jected if  the  press  make  a  feature  in  the  news  columns 
of  those  ministers  whose  hves  so  fearfully  belie  their 
professions  and  their  proclamations.  It  makes  every 
lover  of  Christ  wince  with  pain  and  hang  his  head  in 
shame.  But  better  far  such  pubhc  exposure  of  un- 
faithful preachers  than  concealment  and  secret  dis- 
trust eating  out  the  heart  of  love  and  confidence. 
After  all  the  sober  sense  of  the  people  may  be 
counted  on  to  see  the  difference  and  to  rejoice  all 
the  more  in  the  great  body  of  the  faithful  soldiers  of  the 
Cross  who  with  unostentatious  piety  go  quietly  and 
steadily  forward  in  the  work  of  Christ.  Paul  is  con- 
scious that  he  represents  the  honour  of  Christ  before 
the  world.  He  is  determined  that,  if  possible,  no 
real  ground  of  blame  ^  shall  attach  to  his  ministry. 
The  word^  means  blemish,  blot,  or  disgrace.  His 
desire  is  to  keep  his  escutcheon  clean,  to  wear  an 
untarnished  sword,  to  stoop  to  no  tricks,  to  use  no 
double-dealing,  to  live  an  open  life  before  God  and 
men.  The  tongues  of  the  slanderers  and  tattlers  will 
keep  busy,  beyond  a  doubt.  He  was  particularly 
» I  Tim.  i.  19  f.  «  2  Cor.  vi.  3.  '  Momos. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS   IT  IS  219 

anxious  to  have  clean  hands  in  money  matters  and  to 
do  things  honourable  not  only  in  the  sight  of  God, 
but  also  in  the  sight  of  men.^  Paul  reveals  thus  a 
fine  sense  of  business  acumen  and  integrity.  The 
minister  cannot  despise  all  the  conventions  of  society 
merely  because  he  is  confident  that  God  will  under- 
stand his  motives.  The  trouble  is  that  people  do  not 
know  all  that  God  knows.  The  minister  of  Christ 
has  no  right  to  soil  his  reputation  willfully  or  care- 
lessly since  his  influence  for  Christ  depends  largely 
on  his  reputation.  A  man  with  a  good  character 
may  lose  his  reputation  and  to  a  large  extent  his 
usefulness.  Paul  does  not,  of  course,  affirm  that  a 
minister  who  commits  a  sin  can  never  be  useful 
again.  The  case  of  Peter  was  too  obvious  a  refuta- 
tion of  that  idea.  But,  like  other  men,  a  minister 
who  blights  his  reputation  must  build  it  up  again. 
It  is  harder  to  rebuild  than  it  is  to  build.  Christ's 
look  of  pity  on  Peter  had  in  it  the  elements  of  sym- 
pathy, compassion,  and  forgiveness,  but  Peter's  heart 
was  broken  and  he  had  to  walk  in  the  valley  and  the 
shadow  and  slowly  climb  out  of  the  Slough  of  Des- 
pond. God  can  and  does  use  the  very  faults  of  min- 
isters for  His  glory,  but  there  is  no  special  call  for  us 
to  commit  an  extra  number  in  order  to  give  the 
glory  of  God  a  fresh  sphere  of  influence.     We  are 

1  2  Cor.  viii.  20  f. 


220  IN   GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

not  to  sin  in  order  that  grace  may  abound.  One 
of  the  keenest  regrets  of  life  is  the  thought  that  this 
or  that  unsaved  soul  might  have  been  led  to  Christ 
but  for  the  faults  that  he  saw  in  us  as  men  and  min- 
isters of  Christ.  So  thus  it  behooves  us  all,  as  PauP 
urged,  to  walk  circumspectly. 

Prof.  G.  A.  Johnston  Ross  has  a  letter  on  the  min- 
istry in  The  Yale  News  in  which  he  has  very  severe 
strictures  on  the  present-day  ministry.  He  is  advo- 
cating the  placing  of  young  ministers  for  some  years 
under  the  guidance  of  older  ministers  when  the  period 
of  training  in  school  is  over.  He  laments  the  ab- 
sence of  this  custom.  "  It  is  due  to  this  more  than 
to  any  other  single  fact  that  the  ministry  of  the  non* 
Episcopal  churches  is  so  largely  filled  with  men  of 
immeasurable  pompousness  and  uncontrollable  pet- 
ulance. I  honestly  believe  that  it  is  in  these  and 
similar  conditions  that  lies  the  origin  of  that  some- 
thing about  the  clerical  character  (including  intellec- 
tual insincerity  and  personal  unmanliness)  which 
makes  the  clerical  order  so  intolerably  offensive  to 
laymen."  Dr.  W.  Robertson  Nicoll  makes  a  formal 
and  very  able  protest  against  this  indictment  in  The 
British  Weekly  for  April  20,  191 1.  I  must  record  my 
agreement  with  Dr.  Nicoll  so  far  as  my  own  ex- 
perience goes.     There  are  bad  men  in  every  calling, 

» Eph.  V.  15. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS   IT   IS  221 

but  I  have  seen  fewer  in  the  ministry  than  anywhere 
else.  I  have  taught  some  three  thousand  young 
ministers  and  the  proportion  of  unmanly,  insincere, 
ill-mannered,  petulant  men  is  very  small  in  that 
number. 

Prof.  Johnston  Ross  has  had  a  more  unfortunate 
experience.  The  laymen  as  a  rule  greatly  love  the 
ministers  in  my  opinion. 

But  Dr.  Johnston  Ross  strikes  a  true  note  when  he 
says  :  *•  The  ministry  is  unmitigated  misery  for  the 
man  who  may  be  described  as  constitutionally  unde- 
vout ;  who  is  not  what  the  Hebrews  call '  a  man  of 
God ' ;  his  own  relations  with  the  ideal  taking  the 
form  of  interior  colloquy — in  other  words,  in  some 
real  sense  he  must  be  a  man  of  prayer."  This  is 
finely  said.  Dr.  Johnston  Ross  concludes  his  letter 
on  "  The  Christian  Ministry "  with  the  warning 
**  that  no  man  should  enter  the  ministry  who  can 
possibly  keep  out  of  it."  That  depends  on  what  is 
meant.  Certainly  no  one  should  enter  the  ministry 
without  a  strong  sense  of  duty  impelling  him.  But 
men  can  and  do  violate  their  sense  of  duty,  refuse  to 
hear  the  call  of  God  or  to  heed  when  they  hear. 
Jonah  is  not  the  only  man  who  has  run  away  from 
God's  call.  We  do  not,  indeed,  need  a  superfluity  of 
ministers.  If  the  laymen  all  did  their  full  duty,  fewer 
ministers  would   be  required.     But  that  is  an  ideal 


222  IN   GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

State  still  far  ahead  of  us.  At  present  the  crying  de- 
mand is  for  more  men  to  man  the  churches  and  to 
push  the  work  in  mission  fields  at  home  and  abroad. 
We  do  need  the  best  men  by  nature,  grace  and  equip- 
ment ;  but  we  also  need  more  men,  if  the  work  is  not 
to  stagnate  and  decay.  I  quite  agree  with  this  word 
of  Dr.  Johnston  Ross :  *'  The  times  in  the  past  when 
the  land  was  overrun  by  ecclesiastics  have  been  times 
of  moral  laxity  and  dissension."  The  fewer  of  such 
"  ecclesiastics  "  the  world  has  the  better.  God  speed 
the  exit  of  all  of  them.  The  work  of  Christ  in  the 
world  calls  for  men  of  prophetic  spirit  and  power,  not 
priestly  ecclesiastics  who  are  professional  parrots  or 
tyrannical  hypocrites.  The  Roman  Catholic  clergy 
of  the  middle  ages  is  not  the  standard  for  the  modern 
minister  nor  the  type  to  which  our  world  will  give 
heed. 

4.  Commending  Ourselves  as  Ministers  of  God 
*'  But  in  everything  commending  ourselves  as  min- 
isters of  God."  '  The  merely  negative  attitude  is  not 
enough,  though  one  has  a  hard  time  just  to  keep 
from  doing  wrong.  That  of  itself  is  a  tremendous 
task.  Exactly  what  Paul  means  is  this  :  We  com- 
mend ourselves  as  God's  servants  commend  them- 
selves.2  The  minister's  letter  of  commendation  to 
»  2  Cor.  vi.  4.  2  Meyer,  in  loco. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS  IT  IS  223 

his  flock  is  his  life.  That  is  the  one  which  they  will 
read  in  preference  to  the  sermon  or  to  the  Bible. 
The  minister's  life  is  an  open  book  to  his  people  and 
to  the  world.  It  is  vain  for  him  to  bid  men  do  as  he 
says,  not  as  he  does.  What  Emerson  so  pithily  said 
is  hterally  true.  What  the  preacher  is  thunders  so 
loud  into  men's  ears  that  they  cannot  hear  what  he 
says.  This  appeal  to  life  is  inevitable.  The  preacher 
must  meet  life  as  it  is.  And  Paul  is  not  afraid. 
These  glowing  verses  '  form  a  fit  climax  to  Paul's 
sustained  flight  in  praise  of  the  Christian  ministry. 
He  has  sought  to  interpret  it  according  to  its  ideal 
and  high  purpose.  He  has  placed  it  in  bold  contrast 
with  the  glory  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation.  He  has 
dared  to  look  into  the  very  Face  of  Christ.  He  has 
probed  his  own  heart  to  the  very  bottom.  He  ex- 
posed the  hearts  of  the  men  of  his  time.  He  is  fully 
conscious  that  he  has  not  fulfilled  wholly  the  Ideal 
of  the  Christian  minister.  He  makes  no  such  claim 
for  himself.  But  he  is  not  willing  to  give  up  his 
ministry  for  any  other  calling  in  all  the  world.  He 
has  had  his  meed  of  suffering  and  sorrow,  of  disap- 
pointment and  trial,  of  labour  and  anguish.  He  is 
willing  to  face  all  the  facts  of  his  ministry  thus  far 
and  can  still  praise  God  with  a  full  heart.  He  in- 
dulges in  this  spiritual  dissection  of  his  experiences 

*  2  Cor.  vi.  4-6. 


224  IN  GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

35  his  closing  contribution  to  the  discussion  of  the 
ministry.  After  all  it  is  not  a  matter  of  theory  or 
romantic  idea  with  Paul.  He  had  his  great  experi- 
ences of  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ.  No  one  can 
take  them  away  from  him.  This  richness  of  experi- 
ence becomes  the  heritage  of  every  servant  of  Christ. 
He  can  laugh  at  the  doubts  of  tyros  in  rehgious 
matters.  Many  men  with  great  names  are  novices 
in  grace.  The  seasoned  soldier  of  the  Cross  has  been 
through  the  war  with  Christ.  By  the  camp-fire  of 
hallowed  experiences  they  can  renew  the  great  hours 
when  the  Son  of  God  walked  in  the  fiery  furnace 
with  them.  These  men  cannot  be  shaken  by  the 
attacks  of  all  the  infidels  in  the  world.  No  amount 
of  ignorance  on  the  part  of  other  men  can  make  un- 
true the  knowledge  of  Christ  which  they  carry  in 
their  hearts.  These  triumphant  spirits  can  enter 
fully  into  sympathy  with  Paul  as  he  now  reviews  his 
life  as  a  minister  of  God.  There  is  a  rhetorical  de- 
vice in  Paul's  grouping  of  his  experiences.  He 
divides  them  according  to  three  words :  in^  by^  as? 
It  is  not  wholly  artificial  as  will  be  seen.  The  whole 
section  is  an  expansion  of  "  in  everything." 

(ci)  Environmerit  and  Conduct.  Bernard  *  calls 
this  division  outward  hardships  and  inward  grace. 
This  sharp  contrast  between  environment  and  inward 

*  En,  «  Dia.  »  Hos,  «  In  loco. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS   IT  IS  225 

grace  is  manifest  in  the  life  of  many  another  minister 
of  Christ.     Paul  does  not  mean  to  claim  any  mon- 
opoly  in    such    experiences   as   he   here   recounts. 
They  are  the  common  lot  of  men  who  go  to  the 
frontier    for   Christ.     Missionaries   in   all   ages   can 
present   detailed   reproductions   of  what  Paul  here 
gives  in  no  sense  of  boasting,  but  rather  with  humble 
gratitude  for  the  goodness  of  God  in  it  all.     He  is 
thus  a  "  pattern  "  or  sample  preacher  as  he  is  a  pat- 
tern sinner.     It  will  be  necessary  to  follow  Paul's 
words  rather  minutely  to  catch  the  richness  of  feel- 
ing with  which  his  heart  is  filled.     "  The  fountains 
of  the  great  deep  are  broken  up  within  him  as  he 
thinks  of  what  is  at  issue ;  he  is  in  all  straits,  as  he 
begins,  and  can  speak  only  in  disconnected  words, 
one  at  a  time ;  but  before  he  stops  he  has  won  his 
liberty,  and  pours  out  his  soul  without  restraint."  ' 
Paul's  ministry  at  Corinth  is  challenged  and  hence  he 
opens  his  heart  as  he  would  not  otherwise  do.     But 
even  so  he  is  speaking  not  merely  for  himself,  but 
for  all  ministers  of  Christ  who  shall  meet  a  like  crisis. 
His  hardships  had  called  for  much  patience.^     Tribu- 
lation had  wrought  patience  ^  in  Paul.     One  may  ex- 
press a  bit  of  surprise  at  this  emphasis  on  patience  in 
an  epistle  so  full  of  turbulent  emotion  as  is  2  Cor- 

1  Denney,  in  loco. 

2  Mentioned  twice  elsewhere  in  this  Epistle,  i.  6;  xii.  12. 

3  Rom.  V.  3. 


226  IN   GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

inthians.  But  Paul's  notion  of  patience  is  not  silent 
acquiescence.  The  word  *  means  remaining  under. 
With  all  the  vehement  passion  of  a  spirited  horse 
Paul  remains  in  the  traces  and  thus  shows  patience. 
He  has  Sturm  und  Drang,  but  he  holds  himself  in 
leash  and  keeps  to  his  task.  Indeed  the  grace  of  pa- 
tience is  called  for  in  all  this  list  of  outward  hardships 
in  verses  four  and  five.  The  "  afflictions,"  ^  "  neces- 
sities," «♦  distresses  "  are  very  general  terms  descrip- 
tive of  his  experiences.  And  yet  they  differ.  The 
afflictions  crush  one  hke  a  heavy  weight.  The 
necessities  ^  suggest  loss  of  liberty  and  confinement. 
Distresses  *  reveal  perplexity  as  in  sickness,*^  loss  of 
friends.^  Hemmed  in  on  every  side  he  learned  pa- 
tiently to  endure.  Paul  is  now  more  particular. 
The  "  stripes  "  ^  he  had  received  above  measure,^  a 
most  humiHating  experience  for  a  proud  spirit  Hke 
Paul.  The  Jews  had  beaten  him  five  times  with 
forty  stripes  save  one.  That  was  the  limit  of  the 
Mosaic  law.^  Sometimes  death  resulted  from  such 
scourging.'"  Thrice  Paul  was  beaten  with  rods,"  the 
Roman  method  of  scourging.  He  had  his  "  im- 
prisonments "  '2  also.    They  were  *'  more  abundant  "  " 

1  Hypomone.  «  Cf.  Rom.  v.  if.;  2  Cor.  xii.  lo. 

'Cf.  I  Cor.  ix.  7.  «  Cf.  Rom.  ii.  9;  2  Cor.  xii.  10. 

6  2  Cor.  i.  6 ;  xii.  7.  «  2  Tim.  iv.  10  ;  cf.  Bernard,  in  loco. 

'  2  Cor.  xi.  23.  8  2  Cor.  xi.  23.  ^  Deut.  xxv.  3. 

*"  Josephus,  Ant.,  14,  8,  21.  "2  Cor.  xi.  25. 

'«  Acts  xvi.  24,  etc.  w  2  Cor.  xi.  23. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS  IT  IS  227 

than  the  stripes.  Up  to  this  stage  of  Paul's  life  we 
are  told  in  Acts  of  only  one  imprisonment  *  so  that 
we  must  understand  that  the  narrative  in  Acts  is  far 
from  complete.  The  "  tumults  "  ^  were  also  numer- 
ous and  varied.  His  "  labours  "  ^  were  toils  more  ex- 
actly, with  weariness  and  exhaustion  of  body  and  mind. 
They  are  even  more  abundant.^  His  "  watchings  "  ^ 
were  really  "  sleeplessnesses  "  and  were  *'  often."  ^ 
He  knew  the  nightmare  of  insomnia  due  to  overwork 
and  overanxiety,  the  nervous  racking  of  mind  and 
body  in  the  slow-moving  hours  of  night  when  he 
could  find  no  rest.  Paul's  words  read  like  the  secret 
diary  of  many  a  minister  of  to-day.  He  had  also 
"  fastings  "  ^  not  of  a  religious  nature  or  for  the  sake 
of  his  health.  Paul  knew  what  it  was  to  be  "  in 
hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  often,  in  cold  and 
nakedness."^  The  pangs  of  hunger,  the  pinch  of 
poverty  were  no  strangers  to  Paul,^  the  most  gifted 
of  all  the  ministers  of  Christ :  "  Even  unto  this  pres- 
ent hour  we  both  hunger,  and  thirst,  and  are  naked, 
and  are  buffeted,  and  have  no  certain  dwelling-place ; 
and  we  toil,  working  with  our  own  hands."  This 
was  not  as  it  should  have  been  even  in  that  early 

^  Rom.  xvi.  7.     For  further  stripes  see  Acts  xxii.  24. 
«Cf.    Acts   xiii.    50;   xiv.    5,    19;   xvi.    22;   xvii.    5;    xviii.   12; 
xix.  29  ;  xxi.  30. 

8  Cf.  2  Cor.  xi.  27.  4  2  Cor.  xi.  23. 

5  Cf.  2  Cor.  xi.  27.  6  2  Cor.  xi.  27. 

'Cf.  2  Cor.  xi.  27.  8  2  Cor.  xi.  27.  » i  Cor.  iv.  11. 


228  IN  GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

time  of  Christian  origins.  Paul  commended  the 
Philippians  for  their  frequent  thoughtfulness  of  his 
bodily  needs.^  After  the  lapse  of  the  centuries  the 
average  minister  of  Jesus  faces  still  the  serious  prob- 
lem of  actual  living  expenses.  He  must  possess 
good  business  ability  to  be  able  to  make  both  ends 
meet  and  keep  out  of  debt,  dress  his  family  appro- 
priately, educate  his  children,  and  lead  his  church  in 
liberality.  But  Paul  had  no  idea  of  giving  up  the 
ministry  because  of  the  shortcomings  of  the  churches. 
He  had  his  call  from  Jesus  Christ.  "  Not  that  I 
speak  in  respect  of  v^ant:  for  I  have  learned  in 
whatsoever  state  I  am,  therein  to  be  content."  ^  That 
is  a  blessed  secret  when  the  preacher  learns  how  to 
carry  a  high  head  with  a  hungry  stomach,  an  up- 
right look  with  an  empty  pocket,  a  happy  heart  with 
an  unpaid  salary,  joy  in  God  when  men  are  faithless. 
It  was  just  in  the  midst  of  such  an  untoward  environ- 
ment that  Paul  found  that  the  graces  of  the  heart 
grew  like  orchids  on  the  wild  rocks.  These  outward 
hardships  proved  to  be  the  hot-bed  for  those  flowers 
of  the  spirit.  He  is  borne  aloft  and  walks  on  the 
heights  "  in  the  Holy  Spirit."  This  is  the  key  to  the 
list  of  graces  in  verses  six  and  seven.  Paul  had 
found  Jesus  true  to  His  word.  The  Holy  Spirit  was 
faithful  to  him  in  all  these  trials.  By  "  pureness  "  ^ 
»Phil.  iv.  i6.  2  Phil.  iv.  ii.  3Cf.  2  Cor.  vii.  11. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS  IT  IS  229 

Paul  means  not  only  chastity,  which  is  certainly  in- 
cluded, but  also  purity  of  intention  and  thought, 
sincerity  of  motive.'  By  "  knowledge  "  ^  he  refers 
particularly  to  knowledge  of  divine  things.^  His 
very  experiences  gave  him  a  keener  perception  of 
spiritual  realities.  Longsuffering  ^  is  a  grace  often 
attributed  to  God.^  It  is  called  for  in  an  especial 
degree  by  a  missionary  like  Paul.^  Kindness  ^  is  also 
a  divine  attribute.^  The  love  unfeigned,^  hke  the 
other  virtues,  is  due  to  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Nothing  but  the  new  heart  and  the  new  view  of  man 
could  make  possible  the  deathless  love  for  man  which 
animated  the  heart  of  Paul.  It  was  genuine  and 
undying.  The  Word  of  truth  ^°  is  a  description  of 
preaching.  It  is  simple  and  unadulterated  truth." 
The  Gospel  deals  with  the  eternal  realities.  The 
power  of  God  ^^  is  just  what  Paul  considers  the  Gospel 
itself  to  be,  "  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to 
every  one  that  believeth."  ^^  The  cross  may  be  a 
stumbling-block  to  the  Jews,  and  to  the  Greeks  fool- 
ishness, but  in  reahty  it  is  both  the  power  and  the 
wisdom  of  God.  These  words  of  Paul  are  not  mere 
random  remarks.     They  are  golden  truths  out  of  his 

>  Bernard,  in  loco.  2  Gnosis.                 3  Cf.  I  Cor.  xii.  8. 

^Cf.  I  Tim.  i.  16.  6  Rom.  ii.  4 ;  ix.  22,  etc. 

8  Bernard,  in  loco.  1  Cf.  Gal.  v.  22. 

8  Rom.  ii.  4  ;  ix.  22,  etc.  9  Cf.  Rom.  xii.  9. 

10  Cf.  Eph.  i.  13.  n  Stanley,  in  loco.     Cf.  2  Cor.  ii.  17. 

"  Cf.  2  Cor.  xii.  9.  w  Rom.  i.  16.     Cf.  i  Cor.  i.  18. 


230  IN   GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

very  heart.  They  characterize  not  merely  Paul's 
vital  apprehension  of  Christ,  but  express  the  joy  and 
hope  of  every  preacher  of  the  Cross  of  Christ. 

(b)  Mastery  Over  Circumstance.  "  By  the  armour 
of  righteousness  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left, 
by  glory  and  dishonour,  by  evil  report  and  good 
report."  *  There  is  progress  in  this  group  over  the 
preceding  one  with  "  in."  Here  the  use  of  "  by  "  or 
"  through  "  2  suggests  aggressive  conflict  rather  than 
passive  endurance  of  hardships  with  the  spirit  of 
resignation.  There  is  the  atmosphere  of  confidence, 
the  swing  of  victory  in  these  words.  The  use  of  the 
words  "  power  of  God  "  had  already  given  a  tonic  to 
his  words.  Paul  had  already  ^  elsewhere  applied  the 
figure  of  armour  to  the  life  of  the  Spirit.  He  had 
urged  the  Thessalonians  to  put  on  "  the  breastplate 
of  faith  and  love ;  and  for  a  helmet  the  hope  of  sal- 
vation." He  will  later,  after  long  personal  contact 
with  the  Roman  soldier  to  whom  he  is  chained, 
make  a  careful  study  of  the  Roman  armour  as  illus- 
trating the  Christian  conflict.^  Here,  however,  it  is 
only  a  passing  allusion.  He  holds  in  his  hands  the 
weapons  ^  of  righteousness.  Primarily,  of  course,  this 
is  the  righteousness  which  is  the  gift  of  God,  but 
there  is  also  the  other  side  of  the  truth,  the  actual 


»  2  Cor.  vi.  7f.  •  Via.  »  i  Thess.  v.  8. 

*Eph.  vi.  I  Iff.  eCf.  2Cor.  X.  4. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS  IT  IS  23 1 

righteousness  of  an  upright  Hfe,  the  result  of  the 
grace  of  God  in  the  Hfe.'  The  conception  is  both 
offensive  and  defensive.  The  Christian  minister,  clad 
in  Christ's  righteousness,  is  ready  for  the  battle.  He 
can  swing  the  sword  of  truth  in  his  right  hand  and 
hold  the  shield  of  faith  in  his  left.  Nothing  but  this 
panoply  of  God  can  equip  the  soldier  of  Christ  for 
the  real  war  with  the  powers  of  evil  in  the  world. 
No  preacher  can  escape  this  battle  save  by  compro- 
mise with  his  conscience.  If  he  shut  his  eyes  to  the 
grip  of  the  devil  on  the  actual  Hfe  of  his  community, 
the  saloon,  the  gambling  den,  the  brothel  and  other 
forces  of  corruption  will  let  him  alone.  But,  while 
the  watchman  sleeps  upon  the  walls  of  Zion,  young 
men  and  young  women  are  swept  on  into  the  vortex 
of  ruin.  The  white-slave  traffic  flourishes,  the  civic 
life  is  debauched,  manhood  is  corrupted,  the  church 
becomes  a  respectable  nonentity.  If  the  preacher 
refuses  to  fight  the  actual  evil  in  his  community,  he 
in  a  sense  winks  at  that  evil.  If  he  does  fight,  the 
forces  of  evil  will  fight  him.  It  is  often  with  the 
preacher  as  it  was  with  Nehemiah's  men  in  building 
the  walls  of  Jerusalem :  "  Every  one  with  one  of  his 
hands  wrought  in  the  work,  and  with  the  other  held 
his  weapon."  ^  Not  every  preacher  has  just  this  ex- 
perience. There  are  idyUic  pastures  where  the  shep- 
iCf.  Rom.  vi.-viii.  'Neh.  iv.  17. 


232  IN  GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

herd  leads  his  flock  in  peace  and  plenty.'  But  these 
havens  of  rest  are  growing  fewer  in  the  modern 
world.  There  is  a  drift  away  from  many  churches 
and  the  minister  has  to  go  out  into  the  highways  and 
hedges  and  compel  them  to  come  in.  Those  who 
used  to  come  are  now  at  week-end  parties,  on  auto- 
mobile rides,  playing  golf,  or  deep  in  the  Sunday 
paper  at  home.  It  will  not  answer  just  to  fuss  and 
fret  over  the  situation.  The  preacher  must  make  it 
worth  while  for  busy  men  and  women  to  come  to  the 
worship  of  the  sanctuary.  He  must  be  Wordsworth's 
"  Happy  Warrior  "  : 

**  Whose  high  endeavours  are  an  inward  light 
That  makes  the  path  before  him  always  bright : 
Who,  with  a  natural  instinct  to  discern 
What  knowledge  can  perform,  is  diligent  to  learn ; 
Abides  by  this  resolve,  and  stops  not  there. 
But  makes  his  moral  being  his  prime  care ; 
Who,  doomed  to  go  in  company  with  pain. 
And  fear,  and  bloodshed,  miserable  train  ! 
Turns  his  necessity  to  glorious  gain ; 
In  face  of  these  doth  exercise  a  power 
Which  is  our  human  nature's  highest  dower. 
******* 
But  who,  if  he  be  called  upon  to  face 
Some  awful  moment  to  which  heaven  has  joined 
Great  issues,  good  or  bad  for  human  kind. 
Is  happy  as  a  lover ;  and  attired 
With  sudden  brightness,  Uke  a  man  inspired ; 
And,  through  the  heart  of  conflict,  keeps  the  law 
In  calmness  made,  and  sees  what  he  foresaw." 

» Cf.  Goldsmith's  «  Deserted  Village." 


TAKING  LIFE  AS  IT  IS  233 

The  outcome  may  be  "  glory," '  or  it  may  be  "  dis- 
honour." 2  He  is  ready  to  pass  through  ^  the  fire  of 
criticism  (dishonour)  which  his  opponents  are  con- 
stantly kindling.  It  is  useless  for  the  preacher  to  be 
hyper-sensitive.  He  is  not  hkely  to  suffer  long  from 
the  woe  because  all  men  speak  well  of  him.  But 
often  the  excessive  flattery  of  friends  is  even  more 
perilous.  But  if  one  has  a  sense  of  integrity  ^  (armour 
of  righteousness),  he  can  pursue  the  even  tenor  of  his 
way.  Some  in  Galatia  would  have  plucked  out  their 
eyes  for  Paul.  Others  at  Corinth  thought  he  was  out 
of  his  mind.  Paul  does  not  mean  to  say  that  he  does 
not  care.  He  does  care  very  greatly.  It  stung  his 
sensitive  soul  to  the  very  quick.  "  Being  reviled,  we 
bless ;  being  persecuted,  we  endure ;  being  defamed, 
we  entreat ;  we  are  made  as  the  filth  of  the  world,  the 
offscouring  of  all  things  even  until  now."  ®  He  has 
become  "  a  spectacle  to  the  world,  both  to  angels  and 
men."  ^  Each  man  must  bear  his  own  cross.  This 
was  a  large  part  of  Paul's  crucifixion,  the  false  impu- 
tations ^  of  his  conduct  and  motives  which  he  met  at 
every  turn,  among  Jews,  heathen,  yea,  and  among  the 
brethren.  So  he  had  learned  how  to  take  with  out- 
ward complaisance  "  evil  report "  and  "  good  report."  ^ 
It  was  all  in  a  day's  journey.     It  was  all  a  part  of  the 

1 2  Cor.  vi.  8.  2  2  Cor,  x.  2.  '2  Cor.  xii.  14  fF. 

<  Denney,  in  loco.  »  i  Cor.  iv.  12  f.  « I  Cor.  iv.  9. 

'  Stanley,  in  loco.  8  Cf.  I  Cor.  iv.  13. 


234  IN   GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

game  of  war  with  evil  in  which  he  was  engaged.  He 
was  not  disposed  to  complain  of  the  conditions  of 
service  to  Christ.  Some  personaHties  have  more  edge 
than  others.  Some  men  have  more  force  and  cut 
deeper  into  other  Hves.  Some  men  cause  more  re- 
sistance to  the  Gospel  than  others  who  have  the  gift 
of  persuasiveness.  Christ  takes  us  as  we  are  and  uses 
us  with  our  varied  gifts.  Those  in  the  **  school  of 
Christ "  are  "  chosen  by  the  Master  to  hear  what  He 
says,  to  see  what  He  does,  to  learn  what  He  is  "  and 
"  are  sent  forth  by  the  Master  with  a  message,  with  a 
program,  with  a  personality." '  Much  of  human  power 
in  the  ministry  lies  in  personality.  Paul  was  impossible 
to  the  Judaizing  reactionaries.  He  is  the  inspiration 
of  all  lovers  of  spiritual  truth  and  freedom  in  Christ. 

(c)  Paradoxes  in  Paul's  Ministry.  Antithesis 
runs  through  it  all.  Light  and  shadow  interplay. 
The  same  cloud  has  its  bright  and  its  dark  side. 
What  is  here  true  of  Paul  is  true  of  every  effective 
preacher  of  Christ.  It  was  true  of  Jesus  Himself. 
One  can  get  a  double  report  on  almost  any  public 
man's  Hfe  unless  the  man  has  been  a  nonentity.  It 
is  true  that  not  all  ministers  of  Christ  have  so  much 
of  tragedy  as  Paul  experienced.  The  lives  of  most 
of  us   go   on  in  a  more  commonplace  manner.^     But 

» McDowell,  "  In  the  School  of  Christ,"  the  Cole  lectures  for  1910. 
'  Denney,  in  loco. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS   IT  IS  235 

there  are  men  of  heroic  mould  in  the  ministry  who 
meet  real  crises  with  courage  of  heart  whose  fame  is 
not  blazoned  abroad.  Paul  rises  to  a  paean  of  praise 
of  the  ministry.  He  began  this  wonderful  "digres- 
sion "  *  on  the  Christian  ministry  with  an  outburst 
of  thanksgiving  to  God  who  always  leads  us  in  triumph 
in  Christ.^  He  has  soared  with  bold  and  steady  wing 
till  now  with  an  eagle's  sweep  he  swings  a  bit  higher 
than  before.  He  interprets  to  us  his  own  secret  heart 
in  this  last  song  before  he  comes  down  like  the  sky- 
lark. "  As  deceivers  and  yet  true,"  ^  he  says.  In  the 
Clementine  Homilies  Paul  is  expressly  termed  "  de- 
ceiver." ^  The  Judaizers  at  Corinth  had  also  applied 
this  opprobious  epithet  to  him.  But  Jesus  Himself 
was  charged  with  being  a  deceiver  of  the  people.^ 
Paul  knew  that  he  was  true  in  heart  and  life,  a  teacher 
of  truth,  and  was  willing  to  let  time  give  its  final  an- 
swer to  the  calumnies  of  his  enemies.  To-day  the 
Judaizers  are  remembered  chiefly  because  of  their  op- 
position to  Paul  who  is  the  glory  of  the  Roman  world 
of  his  day.  One  needs  the  blind  eye  and  the  deaf 
ear  ^  to  much  that  comes  before  him.  The  preacher 
must  have  an  intellectual  culture  that  will  command 
the  respect  of  cultivated  men  and  women,  but  it  is  far 

»  Stanley,  in  loco.  ^  2  Cor.  ii.  12  f. 

^So  they  had  called  Jesus  "  that  deceiver  "  (Matt,  xxvii.  63). 
4  Horn.  II.  17,  18.  ^  John  vii.  12. 

6  Spurgeon,  "  Lectures  to  Students,"  Second  Series,  pp.  241  flf. 


236  IN   GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

more  important  to  have  intellectual  integrity.*  He 
is  a  moral  force  primarily  rather  than  an  intellectual 
one.  Paul  is  not  here  thinking  so  much  about  tell- 
ing the  truth  in  all  of  its  aspects,  though  that  is  what 
one  must  do.  It  is  being  true  that  is  in  Paul's  mind, 
a  much  deeper  and  more  profound  idea.  At  bottom  a 
minister  is  an  incarnation  of  truth  and  integrity.  That 
is  the  reserve  power  in  his  character  and  work.  Often 
the  minister  has  to  do  his  work  with  a  pitifully  slender 
apparatus  ^  in  the  way  of  books  and  technical  educa- 
tion. This  is  not  to  be  endured  if  it  can  be  remedied. 
But,  if  unavoidable,  one  can  at  least  have  a  clean  and 
open  mind,  glad  to  learn  and  loyal  to  all  that  is  true 
and  high.  If  one's  manhood  rings  true,  men  will 
put  up  with  a  great  deal  in  the  preacher.  If  he  slips 
a  cog  here,  they  will  not  endure  him  at  all,  however 
great  gifts  he  may  have.^  Paul  proceeds :  "  Un- 
known, and  yet  well  known."  ^  They  accused  Paul 
of  being  "  obscure,"  not  having  right  credentials,  a 
nobody  in  the  ministry,  not  recognized  in  high  ec- 
clesiastical circles.''  According  to  this  charge  he 
was  guilty  of  the  crime  of  not  being  famous.  No- 
body cared  what  Paul  thought  or  said.  He  could  be 
ignored  as  one  not  in  the  company  of  the  religious 

1  Phelps,  *«  My  Note-Book,"  p.  90. 

'  Spurgeon,  "  Lectures  to  Students,"  First  Series,  pp.  282  fF. 
3  Beecher,  "  Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching,"  Third  Series,  p.  293. 
*  2  Cor.  vi.  9.  6  Cf.  2  Cor.  lii.  2 :  x.  lO. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS   IT  IS  237 

aristocrats.  So  the  jibe  ran.  Paul  easily  retorts  that 
he  is  "  well  known  "  among  the  true  believers.'  If 
he  were  as  insignificant  as  his  enemies  claimed,  they 
took  a  deal  of  trouble  about  him.  There  is  a  touch 
of  irony  here.  What  is  fame  after  all  ?  "  As  dying, 
and  behold  we  hve."  ^  He  seemed  always  on  the 
point  of  death,  but  death  kept  vanishing  into  the 
distance.  Doubtless  his  enemies  had  heard  of  his 
serious  illness  ^  at  Corinth  and  were  congratulating 
themselves  that  their  troubles  would  soon  be  over 
with  the  providential  death  of  Paul.  But,  lo,  he 
comes  back  from  the  edge  of  the  grave  and  is  actu- 
ally on  his  way  to  Corinth !  It  is  amazing  how 
virile  some  men  of  delicate  constitution  are.  Paul 
lived  to  a  fairly  good  old  age  and  would  have  prob- 
ably lived  much  longer  but  for  his  execution  by  Nero. 
He  here  makes  merry  over  the  anxiety  of  his  ene- 
mies about  his  health.  No  minister  has  a  right  to 
trifle  with  his  body.  It  is  a  holy  temple  for  the  in- 
dwelling of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  effectiveness  of  a 
minister  is  often  marred  or  ruined  by  neglect  or 
abuse  of  the  body.  Paul  does  not  make  light  of  the 
body  in  this  raillery  with  his  enemies.  They  simply 
need  not  count  too  certainly  on  his  dying  right 
away  to  oblige  them.  "  As  chastened,  and  not 
killed."^  His  enemies  interpreted  his  troubles  to 
*Cf.  2  Cor.  xi.  6.       2  2  Cor.  vi.  9.      *  i  Cor.  i.  9.       *  2  Cor.  vi.  9. 


238  IN  GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

mean  that  God  was  afflicting  him  for  his  sins.  Be  it 
so.  He  is  the  last  man  to  deny  his  need  of  the 
chastening  rod.  At  any  rate  he  is  not  yet  killed. 
He  can  be  thankful  for  that.  Meanwhile  he  will  en- 
deavour to  learn  his  lesson  of  chastisement  which 
God  may  have  for  him.  God  can  use  these  very 
enemies  as  a  wholesome  discipUne  for  Paul.  He 
will  try  to  see  that  the  lesson  is  not  lost.  There  is 
banter  in  this  play  of  words,  but  a  note  of  utmost 
earnestness  in  it  all.  In  these  climacteric  sentences 
Paul  lets  his  imagination  loose  and  it  plays  like 
hghtning  on  the  clouds.  "  As  sorrowful,  yet  always 
rejoicing."  *  His  opponents  affect  pity  for  Paul  in  his 
overmuch  sorrow  !  This  was  only  too  true,  however 
Httle  Paul  cared  for  their  mock  sympathy.  He  knew 
what  sorrow  was,  but  he  was  happy  all  the  time. 
Laughter  and  tears  he  close  together  in  Paul's  heart. 
The  sorrow  was  a  real  note  in  his  life,  but  it  was  in- 
terwoven with  perpetual  cheerfulness.^  He  had 
learned  how  to  be  anxious  in  nothing  and  to  have 
the  peace  of  God  as  the  garrison  for  his  heart.^  So 
Chrysostom,  the  golden-mouthed  preacher  of  Antioch 
and  Constantinople,  when  banishment  fell  to  his  lot 
and  out  on  the  hot  sands  he  sank  down,  could  say  : 
"  Glory  to  God  for  all  things."     Paul,  hke  Chrysos- 

»  2  Cor.  vi.  10.  2Cf.  Rom.  v.  3:  Phil.  iv.  4,  12. 

»Phil.  iv.  6f. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS  IT  IS  239 

torn,  knew  what  it  was  to  be  a  popular  hero  one  day 
and  the  next  to  be  taboo  with  the  crowd.  The 
preacher  who  tastes  the  sweets  of  popular  applause 
is  most  likely  to  find  some  bitterness  in  the  bottom 
of  the  cup  before  he  has  finished.  "  As  poor,  yet 
making  many  rich."  *  He  was  taunted  by  his  ene- 
mies for  not  receiving  pay  for  his  work.^  The  word 
means  literally  a  pauper.  He  had  not  entered  the 
ministry  to  make  money.  He  was  entitled  to  sup- 
port from  the  ch  irch  at  Corinth.  He  had  refused  to 
receive  pay  because  he  saw  that  he  would  be  charged 
with  having  come  after  their  money.  Precisely  this 
situation  to-day  confronts  the  missionaries  in  heathen 
lands,  who  must  be  supported  by  the  home  churches 
to  remove  this  charge  against  them  by  the  heathen. 
With  Paul  the  case  was  much  worse.  The  church 
at  Jerusalem  had  taken  apparently  no  interest  in  the 
missionary  enterprise  now  that  the  apostles  are  them- 
selves scattered  over  the  world.  The  Judaizing  ele- 
ment there  threw  every  possible  obstacle  in  Paul's 
path  and  misconstrued  his  motives  and  work  to 
the  brethren  in  Jerusalem.^  The  church  at  An- 
tioch  was  a  Greek  church  and  heartily  approved 
the  missionary  campaign  of  Paul,  but,  so  far  as  any 
information  is  available,  gave  him  no  financial  aid 

1  2  Cor.  vi.  10.  '  I  Cor.  xi.  7 ;  Phil.  iv.  12. 

»  Cf.  Acts  xxi. 


240  IN  GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

whatever.  The  "  home  "  churches  thus  left  Paul  alone 
to  do  his  work  unaided.  The  older  and  more  en- 
lightened mission  fields  Hke  Philippi  did  come  to  his 
relief  at  sporadic  intervals.  But  in  the  main  he  was 
left  to  his  own  resources  to  do  the  most  gigantic 
mission  work  of  the  ages  in  the  teeth  of  the  com- 
bined forces  of  Greek  philosophy,  Jewish  prejudice, 
Roman  antipathy,  natural  human  depravity,  and  all 
the  forces  of  sin  and  corruption  in  the  greatest 
empire  of  the  ancient  world.  He  was  poor,  but  he 
never  had  to  beg.  He  was  hungry,  but  he  never 
starved.  He  worked  with  his  own  hands  at  his  trade 
of  tent-making  and  earned  his  bread.  Thus  he  kept 
soul  and  body  together  so  that  he  could  preach  the 
Gospel  to  a  world  that  did  not  want  to  hear  it  and 
that  was  doing  its  utmost  to  thwart  him  in  his  efforts 
to  evangelize  the  Roman  Empire.  A  weak  man 
would  have  quailed  long  before  this.  But  Paul  was 
a  hero,  if  ever  the  world  saw  one.  The  ministry 
calls  for  men  of  the  heroic  spirit  who  can  overcome 
difficulties.  "  And  others  had  trial  of  mockings  and 
scourgings,  yea,  moreover,  of  bonds  and  imprison- 
ment: they  were  stoned,  they  were  sawn  asunder 
they  were  tempted,  they  were  slain  with  the  sword  : 
they  went  about  in  sheepskins,  in  goatskins  ;  being 
destitute,  afflicted,  ill-treated  (of  whom  the  world  was 
not  worthy),  wandering  in  deserts  and  mountains  and 


TAKING  LIFE  AS  IT  IS  241 

caves  and  the  holes  of  the  earth." '    This  is  the  spirit 
of  the  martyrs  and  missionaries  through  all  the  ages 
who  have  carried  the  cross  all  over  the  world.     They 
did  it  to  make  many  rich  with  the  riches  of  Christ 
Jesus.    There  is  no  riches  like  that  in  Christ.     Paul's 
wealth   consisted   in   the   souls  won   to  Christ  and 
enriched  in  Him.^     These  had  everything,  for  they 
had  Christ  and  God.^     Paul's  last  paradox  about  the 
preacher  is  the  culmination,  "  as  having  nothing,  and 
yet  possessing  all  things." '     He  had  nothing  at  all 
that  would  give  him  a  place  in  Wall  Street  to-day. 
He  had  no  bank  account  at  Alexandria  or  Rome. 
He  had  no  grain  ships  on  the  Mediterranean.     It  has 
been  thought  by  some  that  Paul's  father  in  Tarsus 
had  some  property  which  Paul  may  have  inherited 
later.     Be  that  as  it  may,  he  certainly  has  no  earthly 
store  at  this  juncture.    He  had  missed  making  money, 
but  had  won  the  whole  world.     He  had  to  the  fulF 
all  that  was  worth  having,  all  that  was  enduring. 
He  is  the  richest  man  in  all  the  world  as  he  writes 
the  last  words  of  this  matchless  panegyric  on  the 
Christian  ministry.     He  counts  up  his  treasures  and 
they  outweigh  all  the  sordid  wealth  of  Corinth  with 
its  nouveaux  riches  and  crass  philosophy  and  material- 

1  Heb  xi   ^6-38.  '  1  Cor.  i.  5.  '  i  Cor.  iii.  22. 

*  2  Cor.  vi.  10.    So  Jesus  in  His  later  ministry  had  not  where  to 
lay  His  head. 
5  Katecho. 


242  IN  GLORY  AND   DISHONOUR 

istic  commercialism.  Paul  had  long  ago  made  his 
choice.  It  was  over  twenty  years  ago  that  Jesus  met 
him  in  the  way  and  halted  his  steps.  He  made  his 
decision  then  and  he  has  not  recanted  since.  He 
deliberately  cast  his  life  into  the  scale  of  the  moral 
and  spiritual  values  as  against  the  worldly  and  the 
material.  He  had  seen  the  heavenly  vision  and  heard 
the  call  of  Jesus  to  go  far  hence  to  the  Gentiles.  He 
is  still  running  his  race  and  there  is  wind  in  him  yet. 
He  has  all,  for  he  has  Christ.  And  Christ  has  all  of 
him.  There  is  the  spring  of  eternal  youth  in  Paul. 
"  I  can  do  all  things  in  Him  that  strengtheneth  me."  * 
There  is  work  in  Paul  yet.  He  has  sung  his  song 
about  the  preacher.  He  comes  down  from  the  moun- 
tain top  with  the  face  of  Christ  in  his  heart,  down  to 
the  work  in  the  valley.  But  he  will  put  no  veil  over 
his  face.  He  will  keep  on  looking  at  the  face  of 
Jesus  and  telling  of  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Christ  to  every  one  who 
lifts  to  Him  a  face  sin-stained  and  shadowed.  Some 
day  Paul  will  look  Jesus  full  in  the  face  again.  "  For 
now  we  see  in  a  mirror,  darkly;  but  then  face  to 
face:  now  I  know  in  part;  but  then  shall  I  know 
fully  even  as  also  I  was  fully  known."  ^  Even  before 
then  he  will  feel  sure  of  victory :  "  I  have  fought  the 
good  fight,  I  have  finished  the  course,  I  have  kept 

>  Phil.  iv.  13.  «  1  Cor.  xiii.  12. 


TAKING  LIFE  AS   IT   IS  243 

the  faith:  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  the 
crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  right- 
eous judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day;  and  not  to 
me  only,  but  also  to  all  them  that  have  loved  His 
appearing."  ^  "  And  they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as 
the  brightness  of  the  firmament;  and  they  that  turn 
many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever."  * 

*  2  Tim.  iv.  7  f.  •  Dan,  xii.  3. 


^ 


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Christianity  and  the  Nations 

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and  most  interesting  work.  The  name  of  the  lecturer  is 
sufficient  guarantee  of  the  method  of  treatment. 

HENRY  H.  JESS  UP 

Fifty -three  Years  in  Syria 

Introduction  by  James  S.  Dennis.     Two  volumes,  illustrated, 

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WILLIAM  EDWARD  GARDNER 

Winners  of  the  World  During  Twenty 

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//■       O       R       K      S        O       F 

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V 


nceton  Thfolooirai  c 

'II I  III  / /I  1 1  II  ni   ^"""'^'7-Speer  Li 


1    1012  01128  6822 


DATE  DUE 

»IOVi4i» 

Demco.  Inc.  38-293 


